But The World Keeps Turning
by AprilChloeBlue
Summary: On a holiday trip, the Bellas and Trebles are in a plane crash and find themselves on a deserted island. When hunger, depression and sadness creeps their way into the feelings of the Bellas and Trebles trying to survive, some may show a different side of themselves, which they've never shown to anyone before.
1. Chapter 1: Crying Lightning

Summary: On a holiday trip, the Bellas and Trebles are in a plane crash and find themselves on a deserted island. When hunger, depression and sadness creeps their way into the feelings of the Bellas and Trebles trying to survive, some may show a different side of themselves, which they've never shown to anyone before.

Rated T for: angst, violence, serious situations, injuries, depression, language and very possible mayor and minor character death, maybe something more (give me some artistic freedom)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the computer I wrote this story on.

_A/N Hey there! Welcome to my story and thanks for giving this a go. This story has been circling in my head for a while now, so I thought I would finally give it a go. Sorry for the English grammar/spelling errors, it's not my first language. _

_Enjoy!_

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"little Alice fell

d

o

w

n

the hOle,

** bumped** her head

and _bruised_ her soul"

Chapter 1. Crying Lightning

Sand. It started with sand. There was sand everywhere. In her mouth, in her nose, in her ears and eyes. Beca Mitchell felt like she was drowning into the cold, wet, sand she was feeling everywhere. She was sinking, drowning. She struggled to wake up, but she couldn't. She couldn't breathe. She was losing. Losing the struggle to survive. Losing her consciousness. Losing everything she was and had been. She was falling. And she was falling hard.

"BECA!"

Beca's deep blue eyes opened as she woke with a groan. Her eyes met some sparkling green ones, but those eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears.

"Beca, can you hear me? Are you ok?"

Those orbs were Stacie's, filled with something Beca hadn't seen before. Sadness, fear, concern and grief was written all over her pale face. She looked at the brunette like she was about to die. Was she?

She tried to sit up, before she noticed a sharp and burning pain in her head. As she reached for it, she felt a huge wound bleeding on the right on her forehead. Several streams of blood ran over her face.

"You shouldn't move too much, you're very badly injured." Stacie said concerned. "I'm fine" the brunette assured her as she stood up with the help of the taller one.

When she finally got up, she saw the world spinning before her eyes and she lost her balance. Stacie grabbed her, before she could fall on the sand once again.

"Are you ok? Are you feeling dizzy?"

"I'm... I..." Beca managed to say before she collapsed into Stacie's arms. The brunette laid her gently down on the sand, before she tried to wake her up.

"Beca! Can you hear me?!

BECA?!"

/

A few hours earlier...

/

"Here are seat 20C and 20D" Beca said to Chloe. The redhead smiled nervously. She really wasn't feeling too good. "Do you want to sit near the window?" The small brunette thought, maybe it would help her to relax.

"No thanks, I'll just sit to your left"

The two sat down on their seats. Chloe was happy she sat next to the freshman. She wasn't used to fly and felt really uncomfortable about it, but this time it was more extreme than usual. She really had a bad feeling about this trip, like something was going to happen. But the woman didn't want to think about that. Look at all of her Bellas looking happy, picking their seats and cheering excitedly. She really shouldn't worry so much.

Beca's case was exactly the opposite. Beca used to visit her mom, who had moved to the other side of the country after divorcing her dad. She was getting used to flying. But even she felt something different tonight. She was a little nervous. Maybe it was because she sat next to Chloe, maybe it was something else, she didn't know.

Beca noticed the tension running through the red's body, who had her hands folded and had laid them in her lap. The DJ laid her hand on Chloe's, which made the senior jump a little.

"Were going to be fine"

"Yes of course..." she answered quietly.

"I read somewhere that the chance of a plane crash is smaller, than the chance of being struck by lightning"

The words of the brunette weren't as comforting as she hoped they would be, but it would do for now.

All Bellas were on the plane and also all of the Treble Makers. They had ordered all at the same time, so they were sitting next or behind each other, in the back of the plane.

When the plane left the airport and rose into the clear blue sky (but with a lot of noise and turbulence, because the plane was old), Chloe grabbed Beca's hand in a reflex.

Beca squeezed the hand a little and Chloe tried to smile, but she looked like she was or about to cry, or about to puke. Or both. The turbulence caused the plane to shake vehemently, and when it flew steady for a while, its altitude would drop a few meters, causing her stomach to turn and the plane to start shaking again.

It was just like the takeoff would last for an eternity. The little houses beneath the plane just got smaller and smaller, until the cars couldn't be seen anymore, and soon the trees, stores, parks and hills disappeared into Nothing, turned into the same, monotone area of grey buildings.

After two eternities (why did it take so long?) the seatbelt sign was finally switched off, followed by a lot of clicks from detaching seatbelts. Chloe, however, was still holding Beca's hand firmly. All the blood had drained from her hand because of the tight grip. Her face looked pale. Too pale.

"Nonononono, you're not doing this to me, are ya?!"

With the speed of lightning Beca grabbed the paper puking bag out of the back pocket of the chair in front of her and held it in front of Chloe. Just in time.

Chloe grabbed the puking bag and she threw up (thank God _in_ _the bag_). She emptied her stomach, vomiting the half-digested food into the paper bag. Fortunately, she hadn't eaten much on the airport.

When her stomach was completely emptied, she handed the paper bag to the flight-attendant, a bright young man who had hurried to Beca's and Chloe's seats when Chloe had started vomiting. The man walked away, with the paper bag between his thumb and index finger, making sure that he wouldn't touch anything of the warm substance.

When Beca shifted her attention from the attendant to Chloe again, she saw tears streaming down the senior's face.

"I need to get out of here! This is no good! We need to get out of here!" she sobbed, while Beca cleaned the mouth of the senior with a napkin.

"Shh… You're gonna be just fine…" the brunette whispered.

She unclipped the belt of Chloe and pulled her into a tight hug. Beca shoved on her seat, so her back was resting against the window and her leg was lying on the two chairs. She pulled Chloe closer to her, settling Chloe's body on the two chairs and between her legs, her torso resting on Beca's and her head in the crook of Beca's neck. The only thing she could do was cry and whisper to Beca that she had to order the pilot of the plane to cancel the flight and to return to the airport. Soon enough however, the redhead, tired from the anxiety, vomiting and crying, fell asleep on Beca's shoulder.

When the girl was fast asleep, Beca had stopped whispering comforting things to the fragile looking girl. The young man had returned to their seats, but after Beca showed a thumbs up, he disappeared to pour some drinks for the customers.

This was the moment for Aubrey, the captain of the Bellas, to magically appear above the chairs in front of them. Before she could say something, Beca made the gesture to keep it down, because the redhead was asleep. The captain quickly nodded.

"What the hell happened? Why's she crying?" she whispered.

"She threw up, but I got it, don't worry."

Aubrey looked at the two laying on the chairs and opened her mouth as if to say something, but she didn't. She looked around, just like she was making sure no one was there to listen to their conversation.

"Fine, but keep it cool, okay? I don't want any trouble on this god forsaken plane. If we had chosen American Airlines, nothing would have happened."

Beca rolled her eyes.

"Well, Beca, if you need anything, I'm just here in front of you two."

"I can see that"

The relationship between the two girls was still as cold as ice.

Aubrey turned around and disappeared behind the two chairs, but before she sat down, she whispered something between the small gasp between the chairs in front of Beca.

"Thanks for helping her out."

"No probs, you know that."

Aubrey turned around and sat down on her chair near the window.

This is great, Beca sighed.

Outside the plane, the monotone area continued below them, but the shade of grey had gone darker, because of the sunset. It was about 7pm now, so it would be dark pretty soon. They had chosen the overnight flight, because that would reduce the price a lot. The chosen airline was unknown and criticized because of the few legroom, the poorly prepared food, the lost luggage, the constant smell of hospitals and cleansing products in the cabin and many, many delayed flights, but this airline had saved them dozens of dollars on the ticket. Money that could be well spent on the location itself. After a long discussion (well, mostly Aubrey versus the rest of the Bellas, because the Captain refused to fly anything except American Airlines), they finally decided that they would give this airline a go.

The brunette hoped that she would get some sleep on the flight, because the Bellas probably had to stay up all night, before they were able to crash on their soft hotel beds. It sure was cold in the plane and there was a faint stench of vomit, but Beca could care less. She wrapped her arms around the sleeping girl, who felt like a warm, comfortable blanket on her body. The breathing of the girl was slow and steady, feeling warm and ticklish in the neck of the brunette. Beca couldn't remember feeling this comfortable since she had gone to Barden University. Even in this cheap plane with its few legroom and its smell of vomit.

Chloe looked cute while she was asleep. Although her cheeks were still red and puffy from crying, she looked calm. Her breathing was steady and quiet. Her eyes moved behind her eyelids, probably seeing and imagining things that no one, not even herself, would ever see again.

Beca stroke a strand of red her from her face, before resting her own head on Chloe's. She was exhausted. It had been a long day, because of the stress of packing and being on time for the departure of the plane. It was thus naturally, that her eyes closed like they had a will on their own and she sank into a light but yet restless sleep.

Even in her sleep, while she only saw the black of the back sides of her eyelids, she was very aware of her surroundings, like she wasn't really asleep. She still felt Chloe's hair itch on her cheek and still felt her breath tickling in the crook of her neck. While she was still covered by the blanket, she noticed how cold the cabin was and that there was a thick, dense layer of nervousness hanging in the air. Was something wrong?

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_A/N: Sooooo this was chapter one! Did you love it? Did you hate it? Let me know! Also, if you have suggestions for the story, please contact me. I wrote the first part, up till "No thanks, I'll sit on your left" ages ago, and recently I finally decided that I was continuing the story. I had some basic ideas which I further expanded into this story with help of three close friends of mine, who also beta'd the story. Thanks for that! You guys are the best!_

_Stay tuned for the next chapter!_

_AprilChloeBlue_


	2. Chapter 2: Praecipitium

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights of Pitch Perfect

_A/N Hey aca-ballers! Chapter two's up! Thanks to all who reviewed! This chapter is less beta'd than the first, so sorry for any mistakes._

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Chapter 2. Praecipitium

Not being sure how much time had passed, Chloe woke up, finding herself laying against her friend. She was feeling nauseous, but didn't feel like throwing up again, because her stomach had already been emptied. Her friend's head was resting on top of hers, evidently being asleep. Although this was the economy class of a cheap airline, she was laying comfortable, so she didn't bother to change her position. She closed her eyes again. Today had also been tiring for her. She remembered the fight where she got into with her dad, just fifteen minutes before she was picked up by the Bellas.

Just when Chloe started to fall asleep again, a heavy bump made the plane drop a few feet. This was the start sign for the plane to shake vehemently. Just when Beca woke up and she and Chloe sat up on their own chairs again, the seatbelt sign went on.

"What's happening?" Chloe didn't sound very comforted.

Just at that moment, they saw a lightning bolt strike the plane. The plane was flying in the dark clouds and was wet from the rain. Heavy shocks caused a few passengers to scream.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're having some trouble with the turbulence now, because of the weather, but there is nothing to worry about. Please, return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts immediately."

Chloe fastened her seatbelt and grabbed Beca's hand again. She was forcing herself not to cry. It would probably be over very soon and she and Beca would laugh about it. Beca would call her an adorable fool for freaking out about a situation like this, just like she always did. They were about to have a well-earned holiday on a tropical bounty beach, to party and to have fun. And when the holiday was over, they had to return to Barden, finish their year and to win the Finals at Lincoln Centre. That was what was about to happen. Nothing else.

Lightning struck the plane for the second time, but this time it hit the right wing, just above the running engine. The plane shook and dropped a dozen feet. She closed her eyes. It would all be over very soon. She was here, safe, with Beca, her best friend Aubrey and even all of the Treble Makers were here. She should feel safer than ever before.

"No! Fuck!"

The brunette sounded shocked, so Chloe opened her eyes and looked at Beca, who was staring out of the window. Were that clouds? No, they were too black to be clouds. What was it? Was it smoke? Suddenly, she saw it. She saw the right wing, surrounded by light orange flames, licking the white metal and steadily coming closer to the actual cabin were they were. The engine on the right wing had stopped and this caused the plane to turn on its axis and to lose height extremely fast. The black sea was coming closer than it should be. The sea was rough and the waves were high, because of the storm. It was still raining heavily and you could hear the thunder fulminate above them. Chloe felt her ears pop painfully because of the falling and tried to clear them, but they were falling too fast. The only thing she heard was the dull sound of people screaming and crying. Even while the sudden drop not lasted any longer than a couple minutes, it felt like hours, but at the same time it all happened too fast to think reasonably. The pilot tried to calm the people down, but she was unable to hear him above the screams from the passengers. Oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, but nobody paid attention to them. She looked, hopelessly lost, to Beca, but Beca only stared outside the window. The waves were now only about a hundred meters away from the falling plane. Beca suddenly turned and pulled Chloe into a tight hug, leaning against the chairs in front of them.

What the hell?

Then the blow came. The plane had suddenly stopped falling and had struck the sea with its front, rapidly sinking. This was when the real chaos began. Due to the blow, the plane had cracked in the middle of the cabin and a wide gap was now separating the front and the rear of the plane. The crack made it easy for the water to flood in. People had unclipped their seatbelts and were fighting and screaming to get close to get out of the sinking plane. Some people hadn't survived the impact and were lying dead in their chairs, not moving a muscle. Others were sitting unconsciousness in their chairs. Others still sat down in their chairs, not realizing what was happening. The largest group of people however, was fighting and trampling over each other towards their freedom.

Chloe still sat down on her chair, confused. Beca however, unclipped her belt and Chloe's and dragged her towards the small path between the chairs. As far as they could see, the Bellas and the Treble Makers were already gone. The plane was still horizontal at last, so it wouldn't be too difficult to walk straight towards the exit. But they were wrong. Very wrong.

Just when they stood in the small pathway, a huge man, dressed in a black tux, pushed them aside, onto two chairs and passed them. Beca cursed loudly. When they stood up and were back in the small pathway, the plane got somewhat more vertical, due to the heavy water that had gathered in the very back of the tail. Beca grabbed Chloe's hand and together they ran for it, the black water only filling the back of the plane more. The plane was getting more vertical each second because of the increasing weight of the tail part. They ran past chairs with unknown people, some dead, some still looking horrified and in shock, but they both knew that they couldn't help them in the little time they had. Chloe ran and ran, but it felt like time had frozen. Like they would run forever, but they would never get near the gap.

Suddenly she felt Beca's hand sliding out of hers. Turned around, she saw Beca falling a couple feet, downwards, because the plane was sinking vertically. Had she had slipped? During the fall, she looked at Chloe, helplessly, before she hit her head hard on the side of one of the luggage racks, which had been opened. When she hit the water that was gathered in the tail part, she had her eyes closed and didn't move. There was a big cut on her forehead that bled severely. Chloe thought fast and ran downwards as quick as she could without slipping. She put her arms around the brunette's waist and started to drag her towards the gap, quickly followed by the dark substance beneath them, as the water filled the cabin more and more. The flames that had formed on the sides of the plane straddled her hair and arms. Because of the combination of Beca's weight, the wet carpet beneath her feet and the plane being vertical, the water soon caught up with her and outpaced her. The whole cabin was now filled with seawater and started to sink completely. The redhead started swimming towards the surface with all the air she had left in her lungs, still holding Beca firmly with one arm.

While she was swimming underwater, trying to reach the surface, there was one thing she was terrified of. It were not even the events she just had been through, neither were it the events that were awaiting her. It was the total silence that had surrounded her, ever since she had gotten below sea level. This silence was in such contrast with the screams and cries she had just witnessed, it scared her. The silence was deafening. Earsplitting. She couldn't bear it and started to swim faster and faster. Her lungs burned and her mind was sending her signals to breath, but she couldn't.

When she reached the surface, the sound of the rain and thunder welcomed her like an old friend. She noticed how high the waves were, while struggling to keep her and Beca's face above the water. She looked around, panicking, hoping she would find something that would save them. The only thing that surrounded them, however, were massive waves, some the size of buildings. No floating objects, no other people and as far as she could see there was no land she could swim to.

In her struggle to prevent them both from drowning, Beca became heavier and harder to hold as they were both pulled down by the strong current. Struck by a huge wave, she felt the body of the freshman slipping out of her arms. She freaked out and grasped for her in desperation, but her body was nowhere to be found. When she looked under water, she could barely see a thing, caused by the darkness. Suddenly, realization struck her like lighting: she had lost Beca. She had lost Aubrey. She was alone.

"BECA?!"

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! I'm not really sure which pairing it's going to be, but something between Aubrey-Beca-Chloe-Stacie. I'm not sure which pairing one to pick xD._

_Oh, praecipitium is Latin for "jump or fall into an abyss" or, when used as a metaphor, "devastation". Finally, 6 years of Latin study paid off._

_See ya!_

_Captain Blue_


	3. Chapter 3: The State We're In

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination

_A/N: It took me ages, literally (well, not literally, but pretty literally), to finish this chapter and I'm not sure if I'm totally content with it. Sorry for any mistakes! I tried to make things as realistic as possible with help from the internet and the Survival Guide I got for my birthday. Anyways, enjoy!_

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Chapter 3. _The State We're In_

For Beca, this was the second time it started with sand. The cold, wet, bloody, goddamn sand was everywhere. With her eyes still closed, she remembered collapsing in Stacie's arms, when she stood up too quickly. After she… What happened before? There had been this plane crash, right? But what had happened exactly? There had been screams, water and _bodies_. The thought of the dead people, hanging in their chairs, only being held there by their fastened seatbelts, made her shiver. But what had happened to her? Who had sat next to her? She had run with someone, that's what happened. That person… Strands of red hair…

Chloe! Beca's eyes shot open. Where is she? Where is Chloe? Is she alright? She sat up slowly, still feeling slightly dizzy. She looked around but neither saw Stacie nor Chloe. She was sitting on a beach, the waves straddling her feet. Behind her, was a forest, but it was too dark and too overgrown to see what was laying beyond that. It was completely dark. The light of the moon was blocked by a dark cloud. The only light that reached the beach was the light of the hundreds, no, thousand stars above her that were shining like there hadn't been a storm just a couple moments ago.

In the distance, she saw a faint figure, kneeling on the sand. It was so dark, she could barely see the figure. Slowly, Beca stood up, still shaky and she slowly walked towards the black shadow. Blood was still streaming out of the wound on her forehead, but it was less severe than before. The sand was cold and made it hard for her to walk in a straight line. The figure appeared to be a female and it seemed there was another girl lying on her back on the sand in front of her. When she just was a couple feet removed from the girls, Beca lost her balance and fell on her side, but not losing consciousness this time. The sitting figure quickly turned around and approached Beca. It was Stacie.

"Beca! Are you ok? I just saw someone washed ashore, so I went to check on her."

The taller one hugged Beca tightly and helped her up. Beca noticed the tears streaming down Stacie's face.

"Who is that?"

Stacie bit her lower lip, before pulling Beca towards the girl.

"I don't know what to do! She's not breathing!" she sobbed.

Beca quickly knelt down next to the girl. Even when the light of the stars only showed black and grey colors, she could easily recognize Aubrey. Her lips had a darker shade than they should be and her eyes were closed. Beca laid her index and middle finger against the pulse point in her neck, but she didn't feel anything. She cursed heartedly. She laid the blonde steadily on the sand before leaning back the head of Aubrey and holding her nose. _You owe me big time_. After taking a breath, she pressed her lips on hers and exhaled. The chest of the captain rose. Beca folded her hands and laid them on Aubrey's chest, just above the end of her sternum. She stretched her arms and pressed down firmly. One.. Two… Tree… She counted slowly. Again, she hold her nose and pressed her lips on the captain's. She put her hands back in place.

Stacie was too terrified to look, but she did. She looked how Beca tried to reanimate the captain, while she sat on the other side of her, a couple feet removed from the two girls. She was lost. Her eyes shifted from Aubrey's face to Beca's hands and back again, while she fought back the tears. She had to be strong in a situation like this. Aubrey still gave no response to the oxygen she got from the brunette. But Beca didn't seem to lose faith. More than five minutes had passed and still she was still pressing Aubrey's chest down, before filling her lungs with oxygen again. Seconds passed like they were weeks, before finally…

Aubrey's eyes shot open as she coughed up and vomited the seawater that was inside of her. Quickly Beca rolled her on her side, so she could spit out the water, before she would choke on it again. Aubrey turned herself towards Beca, who still sat next to her. Her breathing was quick and hoarse, her eyes showed panic. Still coughing, she gasped for air like a fish on the shore, squirming like she was caught in an invisible fishing net.

Beca settled herself on Aubrey's legs and pinned her arms next to her head, so Aubrey would stop squirming and start focusing on her breathing. Aubrey however was still panicking, so Beca hold her hands against the blonde's temples, forcing her to look at her. The blonde looked pale and her pupils were dilated, but Beca saw a little twinkle of recognition in her eyes.

"You're gonna be just fine. You just need to breathe calm and steady ok? Breath with me, just like this."

Beca took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, not releasing Aubrey's head.

"In trough your nose… You are doing great… And out… You are going to be okay…. In again…"

Aubrey followed the instructions as good as she could, but a lot of adrenaline was still running through her body. She gasped for air, but she didn't seem to find any oxygen in the air she was breathing. She wanted to scream, but her vocal chords seemed to resist. She wanted to run away and fight against her own body, but Beca's weight on top of hers just wouldn't let her.

"In again… And out… You're doing great Aubrey. I'm here and even Stacie is here for you. Just keep breathing like this."

Because the mentioning of her name, Stacie moved closer to Aubrey, so she was sitting next to her. Slowly, she grabbed Aubrey's right hand and rubbed the back of it with her thumb. She smiled weakly to the captain. She looked pale and had dark bags below her eyes.

Soon, the breathing became steadier and deeper. Aubrey fought against the tears welling up in her eyes, but eventually let them stream down her face. She was pulled into a tight group hug with the two girls, who were whispering comforting things to her.

What was lying next to them, they could barely see. Because the clouds took the light of the moon away, it was only possible to see a few yards from where she was standing. She had no idea how long the beach was and how big the island was. Well, was it an island? Where were they? Is this one of those cliché inhabited islands like _Lost_?

Beca turned herself to Stacie, who had a painful look on her face, looking to the sand, sitting uncomfortable.

"Hey are you okay Stacie?"

"Yeah, it's just… My back hurts so much. I can't bare it any longer. It burns like hell."

"And you're telling me now?" Beca moved towards her quickly, after she was sure that Aubrey was okay. She looking concerned. "Turn around."

Stacie turned around, her back now turned towards Beca and Aubrey. Beca wrapped her arms around the brunette, unzipping her charred vest, and sliding it of Stacie's slender shoulders, revealing the back of her turned black shirt.

"Put up your arms, I can't see anything with your shirt still on."

Stacie did and together with Aubrey, Beca pulled Stacie's shirt over her head, leaving her in her bra, a deep purple one with black laces. This was however not the first thing the girls noticed about her back.

"Shit, Stacie"

"Is it bad? I can't see it."

A huge burn mark covered Stacie's back. Its size neared 20 inches, covering her back in a bolt-shaped form, from her left shoulder, to her right hip. Her back was totally scorched, full with open blisters, some so deep that muscles could be recognized in the gaping holes.

"We should get her into the sea." Beca whispered.

"That'll hurt like hell, we can't!" Aubrey protested, still looking pale.

"We need to cool the burnt tissue, and we don't have another option, do we?"

Aubrey sighed and nodded. Stacie overheard the plans and turned around.

"No, no, no, I'm not going into the sea again."

"Stacie, you have to, your back is very badly injured and we need to cool the burns, or otherwise they won't heal and might get infected!" Aubrey tried to convince the brunette.

"We'll be there with you" Beca grabbed her hand.

Stacie was silent for a moment, considering. But when she moved her back again, she felt the burn marks sting again and she made a decision, walking with the two girls to the sea. They walked into the cold water, until the sea reached their hips.

Beca pulled her sweater over her head, soaking it carefully in the sea. She moved so she was behind Stacie and she lifted the sweater, which was dripping. Aubrey stood in front of Stacie, hoping that would somewhat calm her down.

"This really needs to be done Stacie."

Stacie's eyes showed panic, looking desperately to Aubrey, who had grabbed her face, forcing her to look at her.

"I'm right here, okay? You are going to be fine, I'm right here."

Beca lifted the dripping sweater above the back of the woman in front of her, who was slightly ducking because she was taller.

"I'm so, so sorry" she whispered.

Then, she wrung out the sweater, releasing about half a gallon of sea water on the burn. It was like it all happened in slow motion; the water dropped slowly, and as soon as the first drops hit her back, Stacie jumped forward, releasing a high pitched and ear piercing cry. She bumped into Aubrey, who grabbed the brunette by her non-burnt shoulder and hip, forcing her to stand still as she pressed her own body to Stacie's, who struggled to get away. Tears streamed over Stacie's face as Beca now hit her back with the salt water for the second time. Stacie cried, screamed and fought, but Aubrey kept her right where she was, safe in her arms. Stacie dug her nails into Aubrey's back as the water hit her back for a third time. Her screams and cries where muffled by Aubrey's shoulder. The blonde was crying as well, just like she was feeling the pain formed by the salt water on the open wounds.

Minutes passed like hours. As time passed, Stacie's screaming were replaced by more tears. Her struggling became less, as she now clung to Aubrey, who was humming an unidentifiable song, to calm them both down. After about 10 minutes, Beca stopped pouring water over her back.

"I think that's about all we can do for her at the moment. She needs to drink fresh water as soon as we find it, though."

"Do you hear that Stace? It's over. You made it…"

Stacie didn't respond.

"We need to get her to the beach."

Together, they carried her to the beach, where they dropped Stacie, so she was sitting on her knees. Beca grabbed her sweater and tied it tightly around her back, as an improvised bondage to avoid the infection.

"How are you Stacie?"

"I'm okay." Stacie looked fragile and exhausted. Beca hugged her friend gently, not wanting to hurt her. She apologized again, for causing all this pain, but she knew that this was for Stacie's own sake. Stacie, although she was still battered by the pain on her back, knew that as well.

The three sat down, Stacie laying down on the sand caused by exhaustion, when suddenly a loud, high pitched scream, pierced trough the sky, causing a few birds to leave their branches, and fly away from the sound. Beca jumped up.

"Chloe?!"

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_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Again, let me know what you think! I'm not quite sure what you guys are expecting from the story, but this is how I imagined how things would turn out. _

_The title is a beautiful song from Chemical Brothers, one of many different songs I'm listening to while writing. (I felt obligated to give them some credit, since I used their song as my chapter title.) _

_About the pairing, you all suggested the Bechloe pairing, but I'm not letting anything out now. It'll be a surprise! I figured you guys like surprises and cliffhangers! *winks*_

_See you in the next one! _

_Captain Blue_


	4. Chapter 4: Your Hour

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination

_A/N: I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been really busy. I had an introduction day at college today and I had to make some preparations. But before I'm boring you with facts about my life, here's chapter 4! Thanks for all the feed-back and suggestions! I'm sorry for any inaccuracies! Enjoy!_

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Chapter 4: _Your Hour_

The three girls looked up, terrified. Aubrey looked at Beca and wanted to get up, but Beca kept her from this.

"I'll go. You stay with Stacie and make sure she calms down."

She got a quick nod from the blonde. She rose to her feet and started to run towards the place where the scream had come from. Where had it come from exactly? She wasn't sure and the only thing she heard now, were the sounds of crashing waves and the rustling from the woods behind her. The cloud that covered the moon shoved, so the moon became visible. The light coming from the moon illuminated the whole beach, showing a grey figure standing with long, curly hair on the beach about ten yards away.

"Chloe?" Beca whispered.

* * *

Gradually, Stacie became calmer. She had laid herself down onto the sand again, while Aubrey hovered over her, making sure she was okay, her soft, but sandy hands stroking her cheeks, trying to make her stop crying. But tears kept streaming out of her eyes, onto her cheeks and while Aubrey tried to brush them away, new ones were forming.

The beach was deserted. Strangely, far stranger than the fact that the beach was as far as they could see abandoned, was the absolute quietness. And the careful, but hasty steps of the brunette left the silence as it was. Her slow pace even created deeper silence. The silence that ruled over the beach like a king over his servants, was a silence, not the dull silence before a storm, but a stillness where one can hear things which have never been picked up with ears.

This is what happened when Beca walked away. The silence was interrupted and now Aubrey heard the deafening sound of crashing waves a few feet away from her, the blaring noise of the jungle behind them, the roaring of passing clouds, which passed the moon every now and then, covering the island in a complete darkness, the silent breathing of the woman who was sitting next to her, and she thought she was able to hear the blinking of the woman's eyes and the tears streaming down her face.

And the silence, that didn't interrupt anything at all, vibrated and became music, like a symphony made by the island. And the music continued, and its players formed a massive, invisible choir. Since the waves, the jungle, the tears and the blinking of eyes could be heard, now their heartbeats, their dreams, their sorrow, their despair and quiet hopes, and all that never had had a voice, was mixed in the distant concert, whose sound reluctantly became clearer, emanated from the silence.

Panic is a big word, but it suited the silent terror of every living person at this moment on the beach.

Aubrey laid herself down next to Stacie, not saying anything at all, not wanting to interrupt the song of life, played by the island. She laid her head on the brunette's right shoulder, which had not been burnt. Gently, because her whole back must be sore from the burning and she didn't want to hurt a person she cared for. Stacie didn't fully perceive what was happening and what their situation implied and just stroke the blonde locks of the woman, covering her. She did not just want, but _needed_ the contact. The symphony became louder and Stacie heard a deep bass play along, coming from the chest that laid next to her.

* * *

"Chloe?"

The figure didn't reveal itself by turning around, but Beca did now recognize the girl because she recognized the way she sobbed. Slowly, Beca approached her, and when she stood just a feet away from the redhead, she grabbed her shoulders gently, making sure she didn't scare her, and turned her towards her. When her face became visible, it appeared to be indeed Chloe. Her hair and her clothes were wet and her orbs were full with tears, but fortunately Beca couldn't discover any injuries. She pulled her into a tight hug, resting her head on the other's shoulder. Chloe still stood there, dumbfound, not realizing she was being hugged by one of her best friends.

"I'm so glad I found you" A sob could be heard from the brunette, but she did not let her tears fall. Now was not the right time to cry, she had to make sure everyone was okay. When Chloe struggled to get out of her arms, Beca let her go. She looked into Chloe's eyes, but the redhead didn't seem to see her. She had a vacant look on her face, her eyes were focused on a point far behind Beca. Her hands moved to her head and she grabbed two fists full with hair. She screamed again at the top of her lungs, while she tugged at her locks as hard as she could. She cringed, her eyes showed pure terror.

She held Chloe's face with both hands, mere inches away from her. Chloe was mumbling several unintelligible words, still looking horrified. Her face looked pale, like a dead man's face. Her forehead was covered with cold sweat, her pupils were dilated.

"Look at me."

Chloe only tried to pull her head away from her hands, but Beca kept her hands where they were and forced Chloe to look at her. She laid two fingers in Chloe's neck, feeling a rapid, but weak pulse. Was Chloe in shock? Shocks could be deadly if she didn't react properly.

"Chloe, look at me."

Chloe had no choice but to look at her. And still, nothing terrible happened. Beca didn't disappear as Chloe had feared and the world was still there. The waves were still slowly drenching the sand below them and the wind was still blowing through her hair.

"…"

Then, Chloe screamed again, pulling at her red locks and broke down in sobs. Her hands moved to Beca's and tried to pull them away from her face. Her nails scraped over her hands, hard enough to draw blood. Beca panicked. What was she supposed to do? She did know the basic first aid but she had never learned how to deal with a shock. The one with the medical background was Chloe, but she was unable to help herself in this situation.

Suddenly, Chloe's body became numb and she fainted. Beca caught her quickly and laid her on the beach.

"Chloe? Chloe? Can you hear me?"

She cursed. What should she do? She knew that she couldn't leave Chloe alone, but maybe Stacie or Aubrey knew what to do. But as she considered whether she should get help, she saw a frown appearing on Chloe's face, before her eyes fluttered open, looking around her and then to Beca. She seemed less scared and panicked than before.

"Beca... Where are we? What happened?" She asked as she looked around again. Then she saw the figure again, which had caused her to panic at the first place.

"That man... Ishedead?"

Beca saw the man, laying face downwards in the sand, constantly pushed a little more on the beach by the waves. There was an odd twist in his back and neck, undoubtedly broken. Even CPR couldn't bring this guy back, and Beca knew this all too well.

The guy was a man with black, short hair and was dressed in a black, expensive suit. He was not from the Trebles and Beca doubted she had ever seen the man before, but still the look of a dead person, lying motionless in front of her, made her swallow hard. Chloe turned to Beca again, her breathing became shallower and quicker again.

"Oh God your head! What are we gonna do? Idon'tknowwhattodo." she was desperately trying to make sense of the things that were overcoming her.

"You're gonna be fine, okay? I'm with you and you're gonna be just okay. Repeat that."

"I-I-I am going to be f-fine…"

"Okay, Chlo, now you just have to listen to your own body, okay? Are you hurt? Are you in pain?"

Chloe, sobbed, but was somewhat calmed by the simple and calm language of Beca. She thought for a moment.

"No, I-I just got a headache."

She pulled Chloe away from this place, not knowing what would happen to them both if they stayed here any longer.

"Okay, that's good, you're good, you're gonna be fine. But first, tell me anything you know about yourself. What's your name, where are you from and what do you do."

It didn't really sound like a question.

"M-My name is Chloe Beale, I'm from Tampa, Florida, but I moved so I could attend Barden University, where I'm co-captain of the Barden Bellas, together with Aubrey Po-…"

Suddenly Chloe stopped and it appeared that she realized something, looking horrified to Beca.

"Oh my God, where is Aubrey?"

Her eyes widened, but Beca quickly comforted her.

"She's okay, she's just over there, and we'll go and check on her in a minute."

After Beca had calmed down Chloe, they walked the place Beca had come from and where Aubrey and Stacie would be waiting, with their hands intertwined, Beca still supporting Chloe a little. When Aubrey and Stacie heard them approaching, Aubrey got off Stacie and they stood up, Stacie somewhat slower than Aubrey, their jaws dropping when they saw Chloe. They pulled her into another group hug, but this time without Beca. Aubrey and Chloe cried tears of joy because they saw each other alive and even Stacie was having a hard time keeping her eyes dry. When Chloe laid her hand on Stacie's back, she flinched in pain.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you injured?"

"I burnt my back badly, but I'm going to be okay, these chicks cooled the wounds with water."

Beca gave a faint smile before poring at the beach that stretched endlessly in front of them, before suddenly, she saw a faint yellow light in the distance.

"Guys, what's that!"

* * *

_A/N: Yay! Another chapter down! Are you guys relieved? Who do you think will have survived the crash and who will not?_

_I wrote this chapter after I read a poem in literature class, so the middle part with Stacie and Aubrey is roughly inspired by the poem. The poem is in my native language, but translated, the title would be something like "Your Hour", so that's why the chapter is called this way._

_See you in the next one!_

_Blue_


	5. Chapter 5: Up In Flames

Disclaimer: I own nothing

_A/N: 'Sup guy's! Chapter 5 is up! The italics are song lyrics/thoughts. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 5: _Up In Flames_

"Guys, check that out!"

The Bellas now also looked at the light, Chloe and Aubrey still holding each other's hands. The light became bigger and bigger, and they realized it had to be a fire.

_So it's over,_  
_This time I know it's gone  
Salt water tasted it too long  
I only know I'm wrong  
Now I know it's gone_

As fast as their feet could carry them, they ran towards the light, happy to see other people, Beca slightly slower than the others, because she was still feeling dizzy. Stacie matched her pace to Beca's, making sure she was okay and because she couldn't run fast as well. She grabbed one of Beca's hands when she faltered a couple times. She was not letting her fall in the sand once again. That damn sand.

Approaching the fire, they saw several people sitting or standing around it. The fire had reached the height of a grown man and was spreading a warm, orange glow across the beach. There were 10 persons around the fire, as far as they could see. When these people heard them approaching, some of them ran towards them, others only looked up, motionlessly. First one they met, was Unicycle. He greeted them with a tight hug.

"I'm glad that you guys are ok."

Beca, awkwardly, hugged him back. Then she saw Amy and Lilly standing behind the tall boy. They gave her a bear hug, Amy squeezing all the air out of Beca's lungs.

_Up in flames, up in flames  
Up in flames we have slowly gone_

She was pulled towards the fire, where they saw Jesse standing, waiting for them to join them. He and also Donald greeted them with a hug. Sitting on the ground was Bumper and Greg, just giving them a nod and Kolio, who smiled weakly when he saw the familiar faces, before turning his head towards the fire again, biting on this fingernails. Brian was lying on his stomach on the ground, with Michael, an unknown background singer of the Trebles, kneeling besides him. Chloe decided to help him, because she had a medical background. She was studying medicine at Barden, together with Michael.

"What's happened?"

"I diagnosed Brian with some broken ribs. He's coughing up blood constantly, maybe one of them pierced his lungs, and he's having serious difficulties breathing. The thing I'm worried about most is the open spine fracture."

He lifted the shirt that was laid on Brian, covering his bare back. There was a nasty cut in the lower part of his back, a white piece of bone had pierced right through the skin, pointing upwards to the night sky. Strands of blood had formed from the wound, seeping to the sand below them. The skin surrounding the wound was swollen and strained. Brian had regained consciousness from the sudden talking and turned his head towards the talking.

"Don't you dare to move Brian." Chloe put her hand on Brian's head so he would stop moving.

"I-I can't feel my legs" his speaking was hoarse.

"I know, sweetie, I know."

* * *

Beca dropped herself on the sand, next to Unicycle and Donald. Unicycle had his head in his hands, his whole body trembling and shaking, sobbing. Donald had put a hand on his shoulder, supporting him. Beca didn't really know what to do. She'd never seen a grown man cry before. She just rubbed Unicycle's back awkwardly, before turning to Donald.

"Are any of you guys injured?"

Donald glanced to Brian, looking concerned before answering.

"Except for Brian, we are mostly okay. Nothing but a few scratches and slight burns. We have been lucky, as we sat in the rear part. The fire was located near the wings, so it could have been a lot worse."

He looked towards Stacie. Her improvised bandage had shifted during the running. Aubrey had gotten it off from her, so she could relocate it properly again. Beca felt her stomach turn at the sight of the blisters and raw flesh on her bare back. They were silent for a moment.

_So it's over,  
This time you're flying on  
This time I know no song  
Can stop it slowly burn  
Can stop it slowly gone_

"At least, for everyone who is alive."

Donald stared at his feet while speaking. Unicycle next to him sobbed louder.

"What about you, I see you got a pretty nasty cut there." Donald pointed to the cut on her forehead.

"Yeah, it needs to be cleaned, but I'll be fine." But her head pounded as if protesting. "I'm going to check on Lilly and Amy, I'll be right back." She said as she stood up.

* * *

"How is this, is this too tight?"

Aubrey tied the knot so the vest wouldn't move again. Stacie hissed in pain when the fabric hit a certain spot where raw flesh was showing. Aubrey's hands flew back to the knot again to untie it, but Stacie's hands on hers stopped her.

"I'll be fine."

Stacie and Aubrey just sat there for a moment, hands intertwined. Then, Stacie turned herself to the fire again, looking at her feet.

"I can't believe I almost let you die."

"Stacie that wasn't your fault and you know that."

Stacie didn't respond.

"The most important thing is, is that I'm here again, right now. Just like I was before."

She gave a faint smile.

"And you have to do better than that to get rid of your cardio."

Stacie let a small giggle, glancing over to Aubrey.

"And I can't believe that I had to hurt you like that, in the sea." Aubrey continued.

"That makes us even then."

Stacie shoved closer to Aubrey, resting her head on her shoulder, both still facing the flames. They were thinking about the same thing. About the same people. They still hadn't found a lot of Bella's. They were yet to find Cynthia Rose, Denise, Jessica and Ashley. The worst thing of it all, they weren't even sure whether they were going to find them or not. And if they did, whether they were alive.

_Up in flames, up in flames  
Up in flames we have slowly gone_

And if to answer their thoughts, they noticed a figure approaching them, yelling words they could not identify, waving its arms anxiously in the sky.

"What…?"

The figure had reached the fire, as they still sat there dumbfounded. The woman dropped to her knees before breaking down and bursting out into tears. While the woman tried to dry her eyes she muttered an intelligible story.

"Ashley?"

Aubrey dropped to her knees next to Ashley before taking her face in her hands.

"Ashley, are you injured?"

The brunette just looked confused and disorientated. Her hair was a mess and her face had stains of her worn off makeup, which made her almost unrecognizable.

"Cynthia, she… She is…"

"Cynthia Rose?" Stacie said, jumping up. "Where is she?"

Ashley pointed to the direction where she had come from. Stacie ran to the pointed direction, away from the fire, leaving the survivors behind her.

"Stacie, wait!"

Ashley ran after her. Aubrey and Beca quickly followed her, with Unicycle, Donald, Jesse, Bumper and Greg behind them.*

"You should go, I'll stay here with him" Michael said to Chloe.

Chloe thanked Michael with a nod as she hurried into the darkness.

_Up in flames, up in flames  
Up in flames we have slowly gone  
Oh, we have slowly gone  
Can we pour some water on?_

* * *

_A/N: Let me know what you think! The song is called 'Up In Flames' by Coldplay. I know it's a bit short, but stop pouting; I'll upload the next one very soon._

_Blue_


	6. Chapter 6: Diamonds are Forever

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story.

* * *

Chapter 6: _Diamonds are forever_

It wasn't very hard to find the run off girls and boys, since a small crowd had gathered in a circle around someone laying on the ground.

"Out of the way."

Chloe dropped herself next to Cynthia, as she had the most knowledge of medicine. Cynthia laid on her back, the waves straddling her legs. An iron pipe had struck her torso, like a stake, forming a huge gaping hole in her chest. The sand below her had turned dark crimson and the waves carried her blood to the ocean. The hole was deep and Chloe noticed Cynthia had already lost a lot of blood. This is bad. Very bad.

Stacie sat on the other side of her, holding her hand, sobs racking her body. The others just stood there, some letting their tears stream in silence. Others just had a vacant or sad look on their face. Chloe checked Cynthia for any signs of life. When she laid her fingers in her neck, she felt a weak pulse and she saw her taking shallow breaths. But she _was_ breathing!

"Cynthia?! Cynthia? Can you hear me?"

Cynthia's eyes fluttered open, scanning her surroundings. She tried to stand up, only to shift the stake somewhat deeper in her torso. She flinched in pain. Chloe pushed her back on the sand again.

"Shit" she muttered "What happened?"

"Shh... You have been in a plane crash."

Her eyes shifted to Stacie.

"God, this hurts…" A short silence followed.

"Am I dying?" there was a slight tremble in her voice.

"No, I mean, it's not that bad, is it?" Stacie looked hopefully to Chloe.

Chloe, at first, didn't say anything, looking defeated to the hole in her torso. Stacie realized that it was actually really, really bad. She started to cry again. She squeezed Cynthia's hand, giving her a kiss on her forehead. Tears now also welled up in Cynthia's eyes.

"I do not want to die."

"I know sweetie, I know… I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere." Stacie tried to sound certain of herself, but she wasn't.

Cynthia's eyes shifted to the people who were standing around her. Then she looked at Stacie again. The air surrounding them became denser, the temperature dropped a few degrees.

"It hurts, Stace." Her voice had become softer and weaker.

"I know, sweetie, I know…"

Stacie's tears streamed down her face. She kissed the hands she still was holding.

"I'm sorry Stacie, I can't do it anymore. I can't fight any longer." Cynthia continued, not breaking the eye contact.

"Don't leave me…" Stacie whispered, her voice cracking.

"I have to go…"

"No…" she sobbed.

"Tell my family I love them."

She turned to the standing people around her.

"I love you guys, you are the best… Thank you…"

There was a tremble in her voice. Before one could answer, she turned to Stacie again, who stared at the sand below them, afraid to lose herself when she saw Cynthia again.

"I love you Stacie."

Stacie looked at Cynthia and broke down, pressing Cynthia's hand against her face, desperate for her touch.

"I love you," Cynthia repeated. "I always have, and I always will."

Stacie swallowed.

"I love you too."

Cynthia gave her a faint smile.

"Live the life for the both of us."

"Don't… Don't leave Cynthia…"

But Stacie knew that she couldn't.

"S-Sing to me, Stacie…"

Stacie grabbed both of Cynthia's hands, holding them firmly, thinking about which song she would sing. The last song her best friend would ever hear.

"_And the heart is hard to translate_

_it has a language of its own_

_it talks in tongues and quiet sighs_

_and prayers and proclamations_"

Stacie stopped for a moment, hesitating, but when she saw the faint smile on Cynthia face, she continued, although her voice was weak and trembling.

"_In the grand days of great men and the smallest of gestures_

_And short shallow gasps_

_but with all my education_

_I can't seem to command it_

_and the words are all escaping_

_coming back all damaged_

_and I would put them back in poetry if I only knew how_

_I can't seem to understand it and_

_I would give all this and heaven too_

_I would give it all if only for a moment_

_that I could just understand_

_the meaning of the word you see_

_cause I've been scrawling it forever_

_but it never makes sense to me at all…"_

Stacie's voice died and with her voice, Cynthia blew out her last breath, still looking at Stacie. Cynthia's teary eyes lost its sparkle, the strength from her grip on Stacie's hand vanished.

The world stopped. Nothing made a sound. For a moment nothing and nobody moved, except for the earth, that kept turning. The sound of Cynthia's hand dropping onto the sand broke the spell.

Stacie dove forwards and hugged Cynthia's lifeless body and clung to it as if it would bring her back, but it didn't. Aubrey tried to pull the brunette away from the body, wanting to help Stacie, by getting her away from there. Stacie however fought against her pulling arms, still holding to what used to be Cynthia. She refused to believe that her best friend had died. Aubrey pulled her now more violently into her arms. Stacie stopped fighting when she felt the warmth of Aubrey's strong arms around her. She crawled into her arms, burying her face in her shoulder, looking for consolation. Her screams were muffled by Aubrey's shoulder. As her hands went to her hair to tug it, Aubrey pulled them away and took them in her own hands. Aubrey noticed hot streams of tears running down her own face, dripping on the brown hair of the woman she was holding. Stacie however, didn't notice it.

_No, words are a language  
It doesn't deserve such treatment  
And all of my stumbling phrases never amounted to anything worth this feeling_

Stacie thought of when they had met at the auditions for the Bellas. When they had danced and drunk together at Hood Night, where Cynthia got her to her place afterwards, because she was wasted. She thought of that night, when she begged Cynthia to spend the night, because she didn't want to be alone. When they went to the park together and they found out about each other's past and they told each other secrets, knowing that the other would be the right person to keep it. In just a short time, they had grown really close to each other, knowing that the other was just like her. And now, she was ripped out of her life, leaving her broken and bleeding.

She would never, ever come back._  
_

_All this heaven never could describe such a feeling as I'm hearing  
Words were never so useful  
So I was screaming out a language that I never knew existed before_

* * *

…

_A/N: I'm really sorry for what just happened... STOP THROWING ROCKS AT ME, I SAID I WAS SORRY. _

_This really needed to happen (for future purposes) and it was really, really difficult to write. Please, let me know what you think! The song is called 'All this and Heaven too" by Florence and the Machine._

_Seeya._

_Blue_


	7. Chapter 7: For Crying Out Loud

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

_A/N: Hey aca-ballers! For everyone who was wondering if CynthiaxStacie paring was a thing before she passed away, I made that as vague as possible on purpose, so you (and the rest of the Bellas) will figure it out eventually. Enjoy the next chapter, things are about to get rough!_

* * *

Chapter 7: _For Crying Out Loud_

They all walked back to the fire, now together with Ashley. Chloe was clanged onto Beca, like her life depended on it and, in fact, all of the Bellas were divided in small groups, just hugging each other, trying to find some consolation. No one dared to speak. The only things that were heard were several sobs from some girls and the crashing waves and the sputtering of the fire on the background. They sat down on the sand, in a small circle, close to the fire, trying to find some comfort in its warmth, but this comfort never came. Beca had her legs crossed, supporting herself with one hand, the other one was stroking Chloe's hair, who had laid herself on her lap, curled up in a ball, muffling her cries in the soft fabric of Beca's pants. The Bella's realized that there was a possibility that not only Cynthia had passed away. It was also very possible that they would never see Denise and Jessica again. The thought of that, only made them miserable.

The only one who was sitting alone was Aubrey, who stared into the fire with a vacant look, not moving at all. Beca grabbed her hand to get some kind of response from the blonde. Aubrey looked at Beca and tried to give some sort of smile, but her fake smile only caused her to cry. She moved closer to Beca and buried her face in the crook of the brunette's neck, sobbing loudly. Aubrey was the first one to say something since Cynthia Rose had died.

"Why? W-Why did she had to die Beca? Why she? Why Denise and Jessica? What did we do to deserve this?"

"Well sooner or later she would have probably eaten us alive, not that it would surprise me, so she's better off dead."

_Until the end of me,_

_You'll be the death of me._

_I dare you to cross the line again,_

Beca looked up to the place the voice had come from, only to meet two eyes with a provocative look. It had been Bumper.

"W-What did you say...?"

"You heard me"

"Shh Beca, he didn't mean what he said" Aubrey tried with might and main to calm Beca down, before something even something worse would happen.

"Like hell I meant what I said"

"I mean," Bumper started to laugh, "She's an African dyke! You of all people should be the most afraid of her! She would try to rape you now there is no form of authority. I mean it's kind of natural for her species."

_Cause deep down inside,_

_There's something that waits to be-_

Beca's jaw dropped and Aubrey and the other Bellas looked at him, not believing he actually said that. Suddenly, Beca dashed forwards, hitting Bumper as hard as she could, right in in his face. He fell down backwards, clenching his nose, which severely bled. Beca struck him again with her fist, in his unprotected stomach, as hard as she could. He collapsed, gasping for air. Before she could hit him again, her fist was stopped by a stronger someone. She looked up, furiously, to see the person stopping her. It was Jesse.

_The thinning line between,_

_You and my sanity,_

_Is quickly fading._

_Takes just a breeze to cause a storm,_

"Calm down Becs, you shouldn't get yourself so worked up!"

"Worked up?! Worked up?! Did you actually hear what he said?!"

_The thinning line between,_

_You and my sanity,_

_Is quickly fading._

_Takes just a breeze to cause a storm,_

_Takes just a breath to cause a scream,_

_It takes me to cause a tragedy._

"I know, well, he's kind of right you know. I mean lesbians are kind of gross, don't you think?"

This guy was unbelievable. Beca stood there, shocked. Not fully understanding what was happening.

She looked to the other Trebles, hoping she would get some support. But she didn't get any.

"He's right. It's a miracle she hasn't raped you guys yet."

That's it. Beca had had enough and all of the other Bellas looked as shocked as she did.

Beca glanced over to Jesse, furiously, like she was about to kill a man.

"Jesse. Zippo."

"I ain't giving you shit"

Beca moved towards him, fists clenched and her pupils dilated, until she stood mere inches away from him.

"Now."

Jesse, fully understanding what would be the consequences of his stubborn refusal, tossed the zippo a few feet away into the sand. Even while Beca was a few inches shorter than the man, she still looked terrifying.

"Thanks" she said sarcastically.

Beca grabbed the zippo and pulled Aubrey and Chloe onto their feet.

"Bella's, we're leaving."

Before the Bellas walked away, Beca turned around for one last time, looking straight into Jesse's eyes.

"And don't you EVER call me Becs again."

* * *

The Bellas made sure they were far away from the Trebles. They were only able to see a small light that was once their shared fire. No one had spoken on their way. The place they had chosen was a flat, sandy beach, not too close to the trees.

"That'll do for the night..." Beca said with a stern tone in her voice as she picked up some sticks to start a fire. Flicking the zippo she brought the wood to a burn and sat on the ground looking into the flames. Their furious movements reflected in her eyes, capturing her emotions perfectly.

Everyone was still dull and just stood there, watching Beca making a fire, not knowing what to do. Eventually, they helped Beca gathering small pieces of wood for the fire and when they got a decent fire burning, they sat down in a circle around it. Amy was the first one to speak.

"You did right Beca, he was a shithead back there"

She blinked as she gave Amy a slight smile. Chloe patted her on the shoulder: "We Bellas have to stick together, even if..." she looked to the ground, her mouth forming a frown.

Everyone looked down as the silence continued when suddenly Aubrey spoke up: "What are we going to do with her?"

"What do you wanna do with her? It's not that's she'll come back." It sounded more cynical than Ashley intended.

"What Aubrey means to say, is that we can't just leave her on the beach. I – I just can't." Chloe said.

"Do you want to bury her or something?" Amy asked.

"It's just… I'm raised as a proper Christian and I know Cynthia Rose was a Christian, so I would like to bury her. I know she would have wanted that." Aubrey answered.

"But that implies going back _there_" Beca interrupted her.

"I know, but I really can't live with the fact that she still lays there, exposed… Dead…"

It remained silent for a moment. They all had mixed feelings about going back to the place where their friend laid dead, but they all didn't want to leave her like that. She deserved better than that and they all wished that the same would be done for them if something like this happened.

"So… What's the plan?"

_Because deep down inside,_

_There's something that waits to be;_

_Cross the line again._

_Because deep down inside,_

_There's something that waits to be _

_Broken._

* * *

_A/N: So for everyone who was wondering where this story was going, I think it's pretty clear now. Oh, for the record, Bumper's opinion is not my opinion. The song I used is 'Broken Inside' from Broken Iris. What do you guys think what will happen? I'll update somewhat later than you are used to, because my finals are approaching._

_Blue_


	8. Chapter 8: Disconnected

Chapter 8: _Disconnected_

Soon enough, they had found a beautiful place on the beach, not far from where the body was. The place was near the forest, with a marvelous view across the ocean. First, they wanted to bury her in the forest, but with no shovels or other equipment, it would impossible to dig a hole in the ground there. So they decided that the grave would be on the beach, despite the fact that that was the exact place where she had died. However, there was simply no other option. All of the Bellas, started digging in the sand with their bare hands. It took ages to get a hole in the beach that was a few feet deep, because the sand just fell back in the grave again, like the beach didn't want a grave there. The sand was cold and humid and small harp stones cut through their skin, leaving bleeding cuts.

When finally the hole was deep enough, Amy and Lilly carried the lifeless body to the grave and dropped her gently. The Bellas gathered around a circle around the grave. When Stacie saw the body, she started crying again. Aubrey wrapped an arm around her. Chloe buried her head in Beca's neck, sobbing.

"I want to say something." Aubrey whispered, almost inaudibly. She took a deep breath.

"Cynthia… I'll miss you. I'll miss every single thing you did for us and I wanted to thank you for giving the Bellas a chance. I-I admire you for seeing all the good things in people. You always saw my good side, even if I was bitching you around."

"Denise… Jessica… If you are out there somewhere… I know I've been hard on you. I'm really sorry for being so uptight. Each and every one of you was awesome, even though I didn't know you well and thank you for showing me the importance of friendship."

Tears streamed down her face. She fell on her knees and she looked up to the sky as she whispered.

"Please God, please hear my prayer… Please let them be in Heaven with You. May You forgive their sins and let them live the Eternal Life in Your Kingdom… Please… Watch over them…"

The Bellas stood there in silence for a minute. Then, Stacie, who had dried her eyes, spoke.

"Cynthia… I love you. I'm so sorry for what happened to you. Thank you for being such a good friend and for always being there when I needed you. I'll miss you. I miss you already. I'll miss our talks and our jokes and I'll miss your smile and the way you felt when we hugged. I love you Cynthia. More than life."

Beca said something as well.

"When I look back on the Bellas, I won't remember performing and competing. I'll remember you, weirdos." She gave a faint smile as Chloe squeezed her hand.

"Me too." Amy said.

"Me too." Ashley whispered.

"Me too." Chloe said inaudibly.

They stood there for a couple minutes, in silence. Everyone was reliving their memories with the lost girls once again. For the last time. Amy broke the silence.

"Let's do it." Her voice was weak.

The Bellas all grabbed hands full of sand, as they covered the body, until the hole was completely full with sand again. Ashley had gathered twigs, which she had found on the side of the forest, together with some white flowers. They attached the twigs to each other with long strips of grass, forming a cross. They put three crosses on the beach, one on Cynthia's grave, the other two next to it, symbolizing the graves of Denise and Jessica.

"I want to sing a song with you guys" Stacie said. The Bellas nodded in agreement.

"But what should we sing?"

"You remember the time we had this girl's night and we watched this musical movie?" Lilly remembered. They had all adored the film. It was one of the few moments that all the Bellas were there and were just having fun, instead of rehearsing. "We can sing the last song from that movie."

The Bellas remembered the song and nodded in agreement.

"_All you can say_

_All you can feel_

_Was wrapped up inside that one perfect kiss_

_Leave it at that:_

_I'll watch you turn the corner and go..._" Stacie sang, crying again as she remembered she sang this to Cynthia the day after the movie night.

"_And goodbye until tomorrow_

_Goodbye until the next time you call_

_And I'll be waiting_

_Goodbye until tomorrow_

_Goodbye till I recall how to breathe_

_And I have been waiting_

_I have been waiting for you_" all the Bellas harmonized.

"_I stand on a precipice_

_I struggle to keep my balance_

_I open myself_

_I open myself one stitch at a time_" Beca sang. She looked at Chloe and Aubrey. She had never thought she could actually become such good friends and become so attached to the Bellas with her lack of social skills.

"_Finally yes!_

_Finally now!_

_Finally something takes me away_

_Finally free!_

_Finally she can cut through these strings_

_And open my wings!_" Stacie sang, she had her eyes closed.

"_It's not about another shrink_

_It's not about another compromise_

_I'm not the only one who's hurting here_

_I don't know what the hell is left to do_

_You never saw how far the crack had opened_

_You never knew I had run out of rope and _

_I could never rescue you_

_All you ever wanted_

_But I could never rescue you_

_No matter how I tried_

_All I could do was love you hard_

_And let you go_". Chloe sang, thinking about how she failed to save Cynthia.

"_No matter how I tried_

_All I could do was love you_

_God, I loved you so_

_So we could fight_

_Or we could wait_

_Or I could go..._" Aubrey sang. She still felt somehow guilty about their deaths.

All of the Bellas continued with the last part of the song.

"_Goodbye until tomorrow_

_Goodbye until I crawl to your door_

_And I will be waiting_

_I will be waiting_

_Goodbye until tomorrow_

_Goodbye until I'm done thanking God_

_For I have been waiting_

_I have been waiting for you_

_Goodbye, Cynthia_

_I have been waiting for you_

_Goodbye, Jessica_

_I have been waiting_

_I will be waiting_

_Just close the gate_

_I'll stand and wait_

_Denise… _

_Goodbye_"

Slowly, they walked back to the smoldering fire, which they lit up again. They sat around the fire for a moment, when they noticed how tired they were. Some of the girls laid on their back, sleep taking over them. The previous events had had their effects on them and now, while their hurting bodies were warmed by the fire, it revealed its consequences. One by one, the Bellas felt asleep. Aubrey saw Beca lying on her back, while Chloe huddled her, lying on her side, their chest rising and dropping slowly. Amy was asleep and next to her was laying Lilly, fast asleep. Ashley laid on her back, alone, staring with a vacant look at the sky. Next to Aubrey, sat Stacie. She wasn't saying anything, she was just lost in her thoughts. Aubrey laid down on her back, as she almost felt herself drifting off while sitting. After a while, she felt someone drop next to her. As she looked to her left, she saw Stacie studying her face, as she laid close to the blonde on her side. She grabbed her arm, and buried her face in Aubrey's neck. Aubrey was always very formal, not used to hugging and cuddling, but now she didn't mind.

"Aubrey?" Stacie whispered. "Please, never leave me."

Aubrey gave a small smile. "I won't."

* * *

_A/N Please review! This contained some new clues about the StaciexCynthia issue, but I'm not confirming any theories _;)_. Raise your glass if you noticed the Pitch Perfect 2-trailer reference! The song is "Goodbye Until Tomorrow" from the movie The Last Five Years (with Anna Kendrick *drools*)._

_Blue_


	9. Chapter 9: Fade Out

_A/N Welcome to chapter 8! This chapter is still during the night after the crash, but I promise the next chapter will be Day 1._

* * *

Chapter 8: _Fade out _

_When Aubrey opened her eyes, she found herself in the plane again. The plane had just crashed. Water flowed down in the plane in slow-motion. Seconds passed like minutes before Aubrey realized what was happening. She needed to get out. Quickly. She unclipped her seatbelt and climbed over the chairs on her row to the walkway. On the other side of the footpath, she saw a woman with blond hair, still buckled in her seat. A huge, deep cut covered her face in a diagonal. Her face was severely damaged. A piece of glass had struck her eyeball, right in the center. Her jaw was broken and hang in an unnatural position below her face. The blood from more cuts in her head covered her face completely, making her face almost unrecognizable. But everyone would recognize a friend, even in such condition._

"_JESSICA!" she screamed as she tugged at her seatbelt. Jessica's head fell to the side, her lifeless eyes looking at Aubrey as if blaming her. Aubrey put her hand over her mouth as she felt her supper coming up._

"_No no no. NO. NO! __JESSICA!"_

_She shook the blonde, but she didn't wake up. Aubrey's trembling hands and clothes where covered by the dark blood from Jessica. Aubrey looked at her hands, panicking. She tried to rub the blood on the chair in front of them and on the ceiling. On anything as long as it was not on her hands. She tried to calm down and to even her breaths, before she would faint. She was sweating profusely, her vision was blurry. She looked at Jessica for the last time, before running towards the exit. It was then when she noticed that the exit was blocked by the enormous amount of water that entered the cabin._

"_SHIT" she cried._

_Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, slowly. Standing in front of her, was Denise. Her eyes were big, she was crying inaudible. Suddenly, she stopped crying. Leaving the two in a complete silence. Even the stream of water had stopped bouldering. The world just stood still for a moment. _

_Slowly, very slowly, Denise moved her head to her shoulder, showing the right side of her neck. She moved her head further and further and further and further, before a loud snap erupted from the breaking bone in her neck. Denise kept staring at Aubrey as she moved her head even further, causing the skin to rip where the fracture was located. Dark blood streamed out of the wound, covering her neckline and collarbones. The blood streamed further down, drenching her clothes. _

_Aubrey couldn't move. She was frozen. She couldn't think. She heard a belt unclip and heard footsteps approaching her from behind but she couldn't turn around. All she could do was wait for Jessica to walk towards Denise and turning around, showing her blood covered face. The piece of glass was still stuck in her eye and moved frantically as she used her eye to look around. Jessica tried to smirk, but her jaw still hang like a rag doll below her face. Her teeth were showing._

"_Please…"she said, as well as she could without her lower jaw. Denise smirked as she finished the sentence._

"…_Never leave me…"_

Aubrey yelped as she shot up, paining heavily. Her back was drenched with sweat. She looked around, checking her surroundings for any signs of Jessica and Denise, but they weren't there. What a terrible dream. But she knew that it was based on actual events. Her hands were trembling as she rubbed them.

"Are you okay?" Beca's voice trembled. She couldn't sleep and jumped when she heard Aubrey scream. The rest of the group didn't seem to have noticed it. Beca shook Chloe off her and moved to Aubrey, taking her hand in hers.

Aubrey nodded. "I had a bad dream."

"Dreams won't hurt us." Beca said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was about Denise and Jessica…"

Beca nodded, understanding.

"They…" Aubrey started crying. Beca rubbed her back.

"It's okay."

When Aubrey stopped crying they looked at the fire for a while. Her eyes shifted to the sleeping Bellas. She saw Lilly and Amy fast asleep. Ashley turned, her eyes moving behind her eyelids, dreaming something. Chloe, now alone, was curled up in a ball, laying on her side. The girl looked so vulnerable. Stacie-… Stacie? Where was Stacie?

"Where is Stacie?!" Aubrey asked, looking horrified.

"Relax, she is over there, at the graves."

In a distance, they saw a figure kneeling on the sand.

"She asked me to give her a minute alone."

"I'll go check on her" said Aubrey as she stood up. Beca gave her a nod.

* * *

"Cynthia…" for the last half hour she hadn't been able to say anything except for her name. "Cynthia…"

She took a deep breath and wiped away her tears.

"Cynthia, please don't leave me alone… I can't do this without you… We were supposed to be together."

_And I'm gonna need somebody to make me feel like you do_

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Aubrey was standing behind her, just listening to her pleas.

_And I will receive somebody with open arms, open eyes,_

_Open up the sky and let the planet that I love shine through_

She didn't expect the brunette to turn around and to run into her arms. She stumbled back, slightly, as she now held her close, whispering comforting things to her.

_For coming to my room when you know I'm alone_

_For finding me a highway and driving me home_

_And you gotta know_

_For that I serve you_

"I miss her so much…"

Aubrey sighed in grief.

"We all do…"

_For crying out loud_

_You know I love you_

* * *

Beca watched as she saw the two women hugging from a distance. They had all loved Cynthia and her unique personality, but no one cared for her like Stacie did. She couldn't imagine what it felt like to lose someone you held so dearly. Seeing the two girls hugging and crying in the distance, made her finally cry as well. This was the first time after the crash she cried. Seeing the two girls there, woke her up. Their plane had crashed. Some of her friends were injured. A lot of people had died, including some Bellas. There was a chance she would never be able to go home ever again. And if she was, she still would have lost friends. She still would have seen people dying. Her life would, no matter what the future would bring, never be the same again.

She felt someone dropping next to her. When she turned around, she saw that Amy was sitting next to her. Beca wiped her eyes. She wasn't used showing her feelings in front of other people. Amy wrapped her arm around her and pulled her close.

"It's okay." She whispered, trying not to wake the others.

"No, it's not." Beca dried her eyes.

They stayed silent for a while.

"Man, I hate that they're gone."

"Me too." Amy sighed. "We had never been great friends, but I still cared for them, you know. I just hate that I was a dick to them, always putting myself first." She buried her face in her hands.

"Always picking on Cynthia's sexuality, I really regret that. I really don't mind, to be honest, I just thought that it was really funny how she was so awkward about it. I noticed last month that she really disliked me for saying stupid things like that, so I decided I would make it up to her when we were on vacation, I would go to her and apologize and we would become friends again. But I'll never be able to say sorry to them now."

Beca stayed silent for a moment. What was she supposed to say? She was very bad at cheering people up, that was Chloe's job, but she was asleep now.

"I really don't think they minded." Really, was that the best she could come up with?

But Amy seemed satisfied with that answer for the moment. Or she just didn't hear Beca's answer.

"Poor Stacie." Amy said, looking over her shoulder at her. "Do you think they had a thing together?"

"Like a relationship?" Beca never had questioned it. "I don't really know, but they seemed pretty close. However Stacie always has the many one-night-stands she has with guys. She doesn't seem a lesbian to me."

"I guess you are right. Still, they we're so close and Stacie isn't an unattractive woman…"

"But I think I would cry like that as well if you or Chloe died. I never knew Cynthia, Denise or Jessica very well, but Stacie did. Stacie was closest to Cynthia from the beginning and she always hang out with Jessica. I just can't imagine how it must feel to lose your best friends like that."

Amy nodded and yawned. "Thanks."

"I didn't do anything?"

"For listening."

"Oh, anytime. You look tired, try to sleep some more before the sun rises."

Amy nodded and laid down again. Seconds later she was fast asleep.

_For pulling me away when I'm starting to fall_

_For revving me up when I'm starting to stall_

_And all in all_

_For that I thank you_

_But most of all_

_For crying out loud_

_For that I love you_

* * *

_AN: Synthia, anyone? The song I used is 'For Crying Out Loud' by Meatloaf (yes that's also the title of chapter 7, hehe). Let me know what you think and see you in the next one! It'll be the first day on the island!_

_April_


	10. Chapter 10: Cold Water

_A/N: Before we start, I want you to know that this update is indeed a little late, sorry for that. I made it up to you for making this chapter about two times as long as usual. Why? I don't know. _

_I SAW PITCH PERFECT 2 THIS WEEK (actually two times) AND IT WAS SO AWESOME I CRIED MY BADASS TEARS_. _I loved it so much, I like to hug it in a cinematic way when I watch it (yes that is very possible). I really got a lot of inspiration watching it, so that's a good thing, but I also got a lot of ideas for other fic's, so that's probably a bad thing if I write those (because I won't be 100% focused on this one). _

_I really don't know why I'm not studying right now, while I'm in the middle of Finals…_

* * *

Chapter 10: _Cold Water_

**Day one.**

Beca woke up two hours later, when the first rays of the sunrise illuminated the beach. She had fallen asleep, unintentionally, not very long after her conversation with Amy. She tried to sit up, only to notice how sore and painful her whole body was. Her back was aching when she sat up. The muscles in her arms and legs were sore. Her head still pounded where she had hit her head and where the cut had been formed. She noticed the small cuts on her hands she got yesterday while digging in the sand. She also glanced at the dark bruises on the knuckles of her right hand, which she had hit Bumper with. Her body was on the inside and on the outside painted with the events of last night.

She heard a groan next to her. Chloe stirred, while she squinted her eyes. She sat up and stretched her arms above her head, trying to loosen her sore muscles, before she opened her baby blues. She looked around and saw that everyone was still asleep, except Beca, who was also sitting on the sand, a few feet away from her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"I've been better. What about you?"

"I'm so sore." Chloe stretched her shoulders. Then she looked at Beca, somewhat closer. Beca's eyes widened and she leaned back as Chloe moved her face closer to hers.

"What are you doing?"

"Your forehead is still open, the wound needs stitches." She stated.

"I'll be fine."

They said nothing for a while as they looked at each other. Beca noticed the bags below Chloe's puffy eyes. Her cheeks were red and stained. Her face and collarbone and arms were covered with small scratches. She had a bruise on her right wrist and, a small one, above her right eye and countless small ones on her bare legs. Her eyes looked dull and her hair seemed less shiny than it used to be. She looked so vulnerable and so fragile, like she was about to snap if the wind blew too hard. At this time, Beca noticed how grateful she was that Chloe was still alive and here with her. Chloe could have died on the beach like Cynthia did. She could also have drowned, only to never be found again as she was laying somewhere in the ocean. But she was here. She was sitting next to her, actually, and she was fine. No, she wasn't fine. But she was okay.

Beca still looked at her, as she laid her hand on Chloe's. She didn't even knew why she did. It was like she just needed to feel Chloe's skin on hers, so she would be certain that she was really there. She saw Chloe relaxing under her touch.

_Cold, cold water surrounds me now_

_And all I've got is Your hand_

Chloe didn't pull her hand away and looked at Beca again. Tears pooled in her eyes as Beca rubbed her thumb over the back of her hand, but she did not let them fall. She was still confused and upset about what happened the night before. Then, she looked at her shirt and shorts, which had some black spots on it, which was slightly burnt by the fire in the plane. The very lowest part of her hair had turned black as well. She touched it gently with the hand Beca wasn't holding and felt how her once fire red locks crumbled between her thumb and index finger. Beca took Chloe's hand that had touched her hair unbelievingly in her other hand, so she was now holding both hands. She brought her hands to her mouth and kissed them softly. Chloe looked at Beca again.

"I've lost my shoes." She stated.

Beca looked at Chloe's bare feet as she still hold both of her hands. Chloe had worn flip flops on the plane, saying they were super comfy and cute, but she had lost them somewhere during the crash. Chloe tried to remember where she'd worn them for the last time, but she couldn't recall a specific moment.

"We'll figure something out." Beca said.

_Lord, can You hear me now?_

_Lord, can You hear me now?_

_Lord, can You hear me now or am I lost?_

The fire was smoldering. A few gray clouds of smoke rose from the burning wood, up to the now turned pink sky. Around the fire, some of the Bellas were still asleep. Aubrey laid close to Stacie on her side, her hand in Stacie's. Lily laid close to Ashley and Amy laid alone, next to Beca, where she had fallen asleep after their conversation.

Close to them laid the edge of a forest. The forest was dark and wild, like a jungle. It was impossible to see a couple yards into the jungle, because of the dense growth of vegetation. There were large trees, completely covered with green moss, with leafy roofs that rustled in the wind. The ground in the jungle was covered with grass, bushes and small plants, all varying in size, covering the whole surface.

The jungle was rustling, howling, rumbling, roaring and if she listened closely, whispering to her. She hadn't noticed how much noise the jungle made up until now. It was like the jungle was screaming for her to leave and to never turn back, but at the same time it was whispering, begging her to come closer and explore its mysterious secrets.

"Have you ever seen something like that?" Beca asked Chloe, not turning her head from the jungle. "It's so huge… And overwhelming…"

"It is."

* * *

Stacie stirred as she slowly woke up by the sound of two people speaking softly to each other. She squinted her eyes, before opening them. However, she closed them immediately again as she did, because it increased her severe headache and when she opened them, she noticed the stinging an irritated feeling behind her eyelids, because she had cried so much last night. When she, eventually, opened her eyes very slowly, she was greeted with the sleeping face of a blonde mere inches away from her. Aubrey was still fast asleep, her face was tilted down somewhat and her breathing was deep. They had fallen asleep next to each other after they had returned to the fire, but in her sleep the blonde had laid her right hand on Stacie's lower waist, seeking contact. Her fingers only touched her hip lightly, but Stacie noticed how her touch sent sparkles through her whole body. Her other hand laid on Stacie's hand. She tangled her fingers in the blonde's, squeezing them softly.

_Love one's daughter allow me that_

_And I can't let go of Your hand_

Stacie moved her other hand from the sand it was laying on, to Aubrey's face. She gently stroke a blonde strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Aubrey looked terrible, her head was full of scratches and her hair was a mess. Stacie noticed some bruises on the blonde's arms and legs. Her face was very pale and her eyelids were dark. She looked at Aubrey's lips and noticed a small vertical cut that had split her bottom lip, but the blood that had gathered in the cut had already dried. But even with all these wounds and marks, she saw for the first time how beautiful the blonde actually was. She had never noticed it before.

Her touch woke Aubrey up and she opened her eyes. She tilted her face, so she was facing Stacie and she stared for a moment in her blue eyes, still drowsy from sleeping.

_Lord, can You hear me now?_

_Lord, can You hear me now?_

_Lord, can You hear me now or am I lost?_

Then, she suddenly noticed the awkward position of her right hand and pulled it away from her and rose to a sitting position.

"Hey Bree, are you okay?" Chloe asked, noticing that the two were also awake now.

"I'm fine." Aubrey shrugged.

But Aubrey didn't look fine. She looked like she had been hit by a truck. Chloe decided to talk about it later.

"Stacie, how are you?" Beca asked as now Stacie rose as well.

"I'm not so good." Stacie whispered as she became aware of the pain in her back again. Her head pounded, her eyes stung and felt dry and her tongue felt like a stroke of leather. She tried to swallow but her throat was sore and dry. But her back felt the worst, the pain made her nauseous.

"Let me take a look at your back." Chloe said as she settled herself behind her. She unwrapped the sweater that was still tied to Stacie's back.

"My God…" she said inaudibly. "Well, the good news is, is that most of the blisters that looked open yesterday appear to be undamaged…" But it still looked very bad, she thought.

"What's the bad news?" Stacie asked, holding her breath.

By this time, the rest of the group, also sore but fairly okay, had woken up and looked as Chloe studied the back of the brunette in front of her. Beca made sure they were okay and unharmed.

"Your skin is still warm, so it needs to be cooled again. And we need to clean and wrap the wounds properly if we find some supplies. If we keep your wounds sterile, you will be fine. And you need a lot of water."

Stacie flinched as she heard this and her eyes widened. Aubrey grabbed her hand.

"We'll do this together again, I'll be with you."

_Don't you know I love you_

_And I always have_

_Hallelujah, will you come with me?_

"We'll just drench a cloth and lay it on the wound, that'll be enough." Chloe said. She removed her vest, leaving her in her top.

"I'll be right back, Stacie, if you lay face down on the ground." She said as she walked towards the shore.

As Stacie laid down, Aubrey moved closer and Stacie looked at her questioningly. Aubrey reached for her back, unclasping her bra. Stacie just prepared herself mentally for what was coming.

* * *

Beca had stood up to go with Chloe. When they arrived at their destination, they saw that a faint blue suitcase drifting in the shallow sea. The color of the bag matched the color of the sea, so it was almost impossible to see the floating object. The handles and sides of the suitcase, however, where grey, which caused the two girls to notice the object. Beca grasped and the brunette ran into the sea without any further thinking. When the water reached her shoulders, she was finally able to grab the bag and to drag it with her to the coast. The last few feet, Chloe helped her and pulled the suitcase on the sand.

"Oh my God! I can't believe this!" Chloe yelped. "Let's take this with us and open it with the other Bellas!"

Quickly, but thoroughly, Chloe soaked her vest with water, before walking towards the Bellas again. They walked slowly, Beca dragged the suitcase across the sand. When the Bellas saw Beca struggling with the suitcase, Amy stood up and helped her.

When they arrived at their fire, Chloe knelt down next to Stacie. The suitcase could wait. Stacie needed medical attention first. Stacie's eyes were big as she saw the wet clothing, but she didn't say anything. She reached for Aubrey and the blonde grabbed her reaching hand. Gently, Chloe laid the wet sweater on her burnt back. Stacie flinched a little, but she didn't move. Her face was distorted with pain, but she refused to cry or to scream. Her hand hold Aubrey's hand tightly. Aubrey had lowered herself to the sand, so she could make eye contact with the brunette, whispering soothing words.

_Cold, cold water surrounds me now_

_And all I've got is Your hand_

After about 15 minutes, Chloe removed the sweater from her back.

"I think you'll be fine. We still need to clean and cover the wounds probably though. And you need to drink a lot of water when we find some." Chloe stated. In other situations, it would be funny how much Chloe sounded like a real doctor, but now the Bellas were just glad that she had the proper knowledge and that she took her job so seriously.

Stacie sighed in relief. Her back did indeed feel already somewhat better after the cooling. She still squeezed Aubrey's hand tightly. Aubrey's other hand caressed the brunettes locks to calm her down.

_Lord, can You hear me?_

_Lord, can You hear me now?_

_Lord, can You hear me now_

"Maybe this suitcase contains something that will help us." Lily said, pointing at the bag that still laid there, unopened.

"Yeah, she might be right!" Amy agreed.

"Okay, we need some soap, as we can use that to clean the wounds, and maybe some bandages for the wounds, or at least clean washed clothing to cover it." Chloe said.

"There's a lock!" Beca sighed in frustration. She wasn't able to click the suitcase open without a three digit code, with which the suitcase was secured.

Amy noticed a small stone on the edge of the beach, where the jungle started. She ran towards it, grabbed it, and ran back.

"Look what I found!"

The case was made of simple plastic, so with a few hard smashes from the Australian singer, one of the sides had cracked, which caused the side to splinter in thousands of tiny plastic shards. Quickly, they removed the shards from the case, so the inside of the case was displayed.

_Lost, I'm lost_

_Or am I lost?_

* * *

_A/N: YES Alexis Knapp has blue eyes, with a little brown, google it (I did). I had to decrease the severity of Stacie's wounds, otherwise she wouldn't be able to survive the situation. This chapter became A LOT fluffier than I intended but I just wanted to let you guys know that not all of this is just romance fluff (I know you dirty little birds want that) but it's also a lot of friendship things (mostly because I don't want to rush any romance here). What will they find in the suitcase? What will happen further this first day? The song I used is 'Cold Water' by Damien Rice and it's a damn beautiful song and (I think) it fits perfectly, look it up!_

_April (2500+ words for a single chapter? Damn girl.)_


	11. Chapter 11: Fingerprints

_A/N Hello! I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed before we start! I never expected to get so much support and it's totally amazing, so thanks for that!_

* * *

Chapter 11:_ Fingerprints_

Beca Mitchell never was the person to dig through someone's stuff. She always minded her own business, knowing that others probably would do the same. Going through someone's stuff was denying someone's privacy and that was inappropriate. Not that she really cared for what was appropriate or what wasn't, but she had made up her mind about privacy since she was little: don't go through someone's stuff and don't go through hers. She knew other people may have things hidden in their room or on their computer. So when she visited friends and was left alone in their room for a moment, she _never_ thought of going through their stuff.

This is what Beca realized when they broke the case of the suitcase. Although a small voice in her head told her to stick to her principles, she still wanted to look through the objects in the suitcase. There may be something that could help Stacie with her back, or some water or food, or even shoes for Chloe. She took a deep breath before she started digging in someone's life together with Amy. Not just someone's life. On the side of the case, they noticed that a name was spelled with colorful stickers: _Ellie_. They started digging in Ellie's life. Now a name was connected to the suitcase, searching it became much more morally difficult.

The first thing they noticed was a pile of clothes in all colors you could imagine. The Bellas took each piece of clothing out, before laying it gently on the sand. There were about 5 t-shirts, in pretty colors. They found pairs of long jeans, but also colorful shorts in mint and ink blue. It's when they pulled two pair of sneakers out, when they noticed a small bag.

Beca grabbed the small bag and opened the zipper on top. It appeared to be a bag filled with toiletry. Beca pulled out an electric toothbrush, a hairbrush, perfume and deodorant. She found hairbands, toothpaste and now she was getting frustrated. There had to be something here to help them right? Her hands fumbled with another zipper, on the inside of the bag. When she finally got it open, she found a small bottle, with a light green substance in it. The bottle didn't have a label. Quickly, she removed the cap and smelled the substance.

"Chloe! Chloe!" she yelped in excitement.

Chloe's head shot up.

"What's wrong?"

"I found soap!"

"Really?!" She took the bottle from Beca's hands and studied and smelled the green soap. "Now we can clean Stacie's wounds. But we need some fresh water as well."

"Looking for this?" Amy smirked as she held a bottle of water in the air she had found in the suitcase.

Chloe took the bottle from Amy. She opened the small bottle of soap and put some on her hands, before she poured some fresh water over her hands, cleaning them. Then, she poured some soap on Stacie's back, who was still laying on the ground. Gently, she spread the soap across the surface of her back, rubbing it very gently. Stacie flinched a little, but the cool soap was soothing her back as well. She laid her head on her arm, face pointing downwards, hidden from the Bellas. Chloe now poured some water on her back, getting rid of the soap there.

"Just stay down for a while, before you get dressed." Chloe commanded Stacie. Stacie gave her a faint smile.

"Here drink this." She handed the bottle and she watched as Stacie downed the remains of the bottle in one gulp.

"You'll be okay." Chloe said to her, before moving towards the suitcase to help them unpack.

They came across more clothes; blouses, tank tops, t-shirts and hoodies, the girl had brought literally everything with her she had.

Chloe stumbled across a neatly folded sweater, which she unfolded so she could take a better look at the dark green piece of clothing, when she noticed something falling out. She was the only one who noticed, however. She picked up the object and studied it. It was a photograph. The edges were a little bit folded, but the photo was in a good condition, because it had been covered by a thick pile of clothing. She excused herself and went to the edge of the jungle, where she sat down on the soft grass. She studied the photo carefully.

On the front of the picture, stood two girls, who were about her age. Both, they were wearing deep blue graduation gowns. One of the girls was a short brunette, with curly hair beneath her square blue graduation hat and a happy smile as she looked into the camera. The other girl was a tall blonde, winking and smirking, obviously the happy and bubbly one, as she hold her hat in one hand, raising it high above their heads. One of her arms was wrapped around the shorter girls shoulders, pulling her closer. The picture was made in front of a large building, which Chloe assumed to be their school. The sun was bright and lightened the tops of their hats.

This could've been her and Aubrey this year. This _should've been_ her and Aubrey this year. There was no way this was happening this year, or ever for that matter. She felt a lump in her throat when the thought of this.

On the back of the picture, was a stamp displayed with the date and time of the picture. 26th of June, 2012 at 15:-something. The stamp had faded where the picture had gotten a little bit wet by the seawater. They had graduated just about a half year ago. In the upper right corner, was a hand written message:

_To Ellie.  
I love you awesome nerd! I love the times we shared.  
We are heading our separate ways, but I'll still be waving at you from the path I chose.  
You'll be moving to the US! I'll visit you whenever I can.  
When we are so far apart, will you sometimes think of me and wave back at me?  
Love, Johanna_

Suddenly, it struck her. She had seen the blonde one, while boarding. The blonde one was one the plane with them, so she'd been in the crash. Her stomach dropped when she realized she had probably died. It struck her how many people probably died during the crash. She thought of all the families they left behind. She realized that Ellie would probably never see Johanna again.

It was unclear why, but she felt a strong connection with the photograph. She folded the picture two times, to a small, thin package, and shove it in the back pocket of her trousers. A sob escaped her throat. She felt Aubrey's hand on her back.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, I'm sorry."

Aubrey hugged her for a moment.

"Let's head back."

* * *

When Aubrey and Chloe came back, Stacie had gotten up again and had put her bra back on. The contains of the suitcase were neatly spread on the sand. There were two small piles of clothes, and two pair of shoes, socks, underwear and a bikini. Three books laid displayed on the beach, a stock of playing cards, towels, snorkeling gear, a pair of reading glasses, scissors, headphones, a flashlight, a small backpack and a charger. And a lighter.

The contents of the toiletry bag was also displayed. A toothbrush, a hairbrush, two other bottles of soap, perfume, deodorant, a small sewing kit, bandages and a bottle of aspirin.

"So what are we doing with this stuff?" Ashley asked the rest of the group.

"Well, I think we use all we need." Amy said. "We need replace the clothes that got damaged." She pointed at the clothes. "We need to pack the things we are really going to need in that bag, so we won't lose them."

Chloe knelt down and picked up the sewing kit.

"Beca, I think I can stitch up your wound with this."

"Dude, is that really a good idea?" Beca asked unbelievingly.

"Your wound really needs stitches. And I think Chloe has a very good idea of what she's doing." Aubrey defended.

"Fine."

After she cleaned the wound with soap, Chloe grabbed a small, thin needle from the kit and a black thin thread. She lit the lighter they had found, and pulled the needle through the flame in a swift motion, sterilizing it. After the needle cooled down, she put the thread through the of the needle and secured it and knotted the end of the fiber. She settled herself in front of Beca, who looked at her, terrified. All the Bellas just looked at Chloe and her hands, curious what she was about to do.

Chloe was very nervous and tried to stop her hands from shaking. Or at least, to stop showing she was nervous. She actually had had the stitching class the previous year and she'd passed it. But performing it right now for the first time on a real patient, who was one of her best friends with no supervisor or hygienic conditions, did get on her nerves. The first stitch she placed on the center of the wound, just as she had learned. She still hadn't gotten used to the feeling of pushing a needle through flesh, though. She knotted the stitch and cut of the loose ends with the scissors, as she had done in practical class.

Beca tried not to focus on the pain in her head, or on the needle the redhead was pushing in her flesh several times. She tried not to look at the worried faces of the other Bellas, who studied her and Chloe like a piece of art. Instead, she looked at the blue orbs in front of her, sometimes covered by a focused frown, looking straight at her forehead.

After the first stitch, Chloe put the loose ends of the flesh of the wound together and stitched it again and again, working her way to the edges of the wound. After she cut the loose ends of the seventh stitch, the whole wound was stitched up. Her eyes moved from the wound to Beca's eyes.

"You're good to go I think."

Beca's hand moved up to touch the placed stitches, but Chloe's hand flew to hers stopping her.

"Don't even think of touching that."

"Wow, Chlo'" Aubrey said in amaze "That really looks professional. You did pay attention in class."

Chloe just shrugged.

"Chloe." Beca said, making eye contact. "Thank you."

"No problem."

* * *

_A/N: Next chapter will be more exciting! (I know, because I've almost finished it already) I'll probably update next Friday, since finals are over then. Thanks again for all the support!_

_Blue_


	12. Chapter 12: Comfort the Disturbed

_A/N: BOOM! Hey guys! Yeah, I'm aware of the fact that it's Saturday. Woops._

* * *

Chapter 12: _Comfort the disturbed_

"This will do" Chloe said as she tied the bandage on Stacie's back.

Stacie thanked her and shrugged, like she wanted to shake off the pain of her shoulders.

"Here" Beca said to her, as she tossed a piece of clothing to her.

"What's this?" Stacie looked at the blouse she got. It had was faint blue, checkered with black and pearl white buttons.

"Well, basically you don't have anything to wear, because your shirt is ruined."

"You want me to wear this?" Stacie asked. "I-I can't, this is Ellie's."

"Ellie's gone." Ashley whispered, staring at the ground.

"But still, I refuse to wear this." Stacie said.

"You need it for protection against scratches and to cover the bandages so they'll last longer." Chloe said. "And otherwise you'll get a sunburn."

Stacie looked at the piece of clothing in her hands. She thought about it for a moment. The fabric was still soft and flexible. Slowly, she slid the blouse over her slender shoulders, being careful not to harm her back again while doing it. The blouse fitted perfectly, like it had been hers from the beginning. The scent that came with the clothing, was not however. There was a faint scent of flowers and something she couldn't define. It probably smelled like Ellie did, she thought sadly. Her hands moved to the lowest button on her, or Ellie's, blouse. She, however, didn't manage to button up her blouse, because of her shaky hands. The small buttons slipped through her fingers when she tried to push them through their designated gap. All eyes from the Bellas where on her, while she tried, which made her hands only tremble more. She felt suddenly two hands on hers, stopping her actions.

"I got it." Chloe said, as she gently pushed Stacie's hands down. Slowly, she buttoned the lowest two buttons, but she stopped at the third one, as it appeared to be missing. So she skipped it, and moved to the fourth, moving upwards, her eyes focused on her hands.

Stacie stared at her. At her face, at her hair, at her focused eyes and her lips, which she often sucked in and let go, something she frequently did unintendedly, when she was thinking or concentrated. Her skin was somewhat pale, so her blue eyes were emphasized.

When she buttoned the last one, she looked Stacie directly in the eye. The brunette released a breath she didn't even knew she was holding.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Chloe answered.

They remained staring for a while before Amy interrupted them.

"Hey guys I packed some things in the backpack!"

Amy had packed the hairbands, the scissors, the flashlight, the lighter, the soap, the sewing kit, the rest of the bandages and, after every one of them had taken one, the bottle of aspirin as well. She'd even packed the stock of playing cards and the shoelaces from one pair of shoes. The other pair she tossed to Chloe, with a pair of socks.

"You can't keep walking barefooted." The sun had risen high in the sky, uncovered by any clouds and did not only warm their uncovered skins, but also the sand which they were standing on.

Chloe nodded and she put the black socks on. They were too big, as the socks were size 9's and she had size 8's. She put on the shoes as well, denim shoes, made of grey jeans material, with white shoelaces. They were too big as well, but they were comfortable.

"I don't think the rest of the suitcase will be of much use now." Amy said, closing the small backpack. The rest just nodded.

"Hey, look at that!" Aubrey said, running towards the shore. She came back a few moments later with a small cardboard box with the logo of the airline in her arms. The box was very light though.

When they opened it, they noticed about a dozen packs of salty crackers inside them. All the packs were packed in plastic, so they had stayed dry during the crash.

"It's not much, but at least it's something." Amy said.

They decided to leave them for that night, when they probably would get hungry. It was probably about 1pm now, and the sun, which had set high in the sky, suddenly became covered by dark, grey clouds. The temperature dropped when the sun disappeared and a chilly wind rushed through the trees, making the jungle appear restless. Fallen leaves flew over the beach, sand particles caught up in the wind, scratching their legs. Something bad was coming, they could feel it.

* * *

_In the meantime…_

"SHIT" Bumper cursed as he gave a hard kick to the side of the black suitcase. The man which had packed the suitcase was on a family trip, apparently, because he had nothing but clothes and a toothbrush packed. Nothing they could use.

"I REALLY hate this place already." Bumper said angrily.

"I know right. This sucks." Jesse said.

"Looks like the Bellas have found their suitcases as well." He said pointing at the group of girls in the distance.

"They did?!" Bumper said. "I really hate those stupid bitches."

"Yeah, they were totally unreasonable yesterday. That chick was a dyke."

"Not only that, but the whole group stinks. The Bellas always have caused trouble for us. I hate them so much."

"Why is that?'

"It's a long story, but let's just say that the Trebles and the Bellas had this 'argument' before you guys came here." he used his fingers to depict the quotation marks. "Believe me, all of the Trebles hate them as much as I do. You and Kolio just don't because you're freshmen, but you will eventually."

"What kind of argument are we talking about?" Jesse asked curiously.

Before Bumper could answer him, his eye fell on a box inside the suitcase.

"Hey look at this." Bumper held up a thin, black velvet box. Slowly, he opened it.

"Dude." He said. In the box laid a silver knife, sterling silver, stood on the blade. He took the knife out of the box and rubbed his thumb against the blade. It appeared to be very sharp and never used, as the skin had split where he had brushed it, and small drops of blood had gathered in the cut. Jesse took the knife out of his hands and studied it.

"Wow, this thing must be expensive. It looks like a family treasure or something."

Their thoughts were interrupted by Unicycle and Donald, yelling at them from a distance and waving at them.

"I think they found something!" Jesse said.

Jesse put the knife in the box again and took it, before they both stood up and walked towards the two Trebles. The group had split up in groups of two, to look for things they could eat or could use while they were here.

The four Trebles now stood in front of a very small cabin a few feet inside the jungle. The cabin was thoroughly camouflaged and made by grayish wood, which made it almost impossible to notice in the forest.

"Have you checked what's inside?" Bumper asked the two boys. They shook their head.

With a little effort, Bumper pulled at the door, which opened with a lot of noise, because of the rusty hinges. The inside was completely dark by the lack of light. Jesse had walked around the cabin, looking for something to help, when he noticed a shutter on one of the sides. He slid it up easily, revealing a square hole in the wooden side, serving as a window.

Unicycle couldn't help but grasp at what was inside. There was a small desk and a chair, both covered by a thick layer of dust, a closet, a filthy mirror and a map on the wall.

Donald studied the map. It appeared to be a map from the island, but it was faded, but still slightly readable. The map was hand drawn and he noticed that how closer you went to the center of the island, how less accurate and detailed the map became.

Unicycle stood in front of the mirror. He was unable to see himself, because of the thick layer of filth on top of the surface, but he noticed a few pictures, that were attached to its frame.

On one of them, was a young, Asian looking woman displayed, wearing a white dress and a parasol in her right hand, displayed in black and white colors. In her left arm, she was holding an infant, about 4 years old, with black hair. When he turned the picture, a short message was written on the back, but it was written in foreign characters, probably Chinese or Japanese, as he didn't recognize it. As he was unable to read it, he turned to the second, and last, picture on the mirror. This one displayed a group of young man, all in uniform. The front line was sitting on chairs, the line behind was standing straight, the two on the sides wearing the Japanese flag. In the background, there was a part of a plane visible, a very old looking plane, one you see in the history books.

"Do you think this was a supplying point to the Japanese during The War?" he asked.

"I think so." Jesse said, studying an article from a newspaper hanging on the wall. The text had faded, but was in Japanese anyways.

"Guys check this out!" Bumper yelped in excitement.

He had turned to the wooden closet in the cabin and had opened it. Seeing its contents, he grinned widely.

"Wow…" Donald gasped as he saw it as well.

"Gentlemen, I think it's time to pay the Barden Bellas a visit."

* * *

_A/N Sorry about the cliffhanger, hehehe. Stoe, anyone? (Who am I kidding, nobody ships Stoe). So I'm leaving this country for a holiday in, let's see, 7 minutes, so I won't be able to update this week. But I promise the next one will be good._

_Blue_


	13. Chapter 13: Disturb the Comfortable

_A/N Hi guys! I'm back! When I got home, I had 34 unread fanfiction emails, which is insane! Thanks a lot for the support! Someone asked where Emily and Flo were. This story is settled during the first film, so before the second film, so they are not Bellas yet._

_This chapter may contain some triggers, I'm not quite sure if they are triggers, but you've been warned. _

_All mistakes are mine, the characters however, aren't._

* * *

Chapter 13: _Disturb the Comfortable_

From a distance, they saw the Trebles approaching. Amy put the small backpack on her back, below the oversized vest she was wearing, so they wouldn't notice it. They stopped their actions and paused what they were doing. The Trebles got closer. Bumper leaded the group, with Jesse walking next to him. The rest of the Trebles were pacing behind them. The Bellas got closer towards each other, bracing themselves for what was coming. Aubrey moved herself in front of the group. Her gut told her something bad was coming. And if something bad was coming, she would take the blow. As a captain, she was obliged to. Aubrey Posen was a strong woman, one who was able to stand up for herself and for others, one who was never scared. But now she was. She was terrified of what was about to happen. Her heart was racing and her hands were trembling.

Bumper stopped a few feet away from Aubrey, who stood in front of the group.

"Bellaaaaaaas…"He stretched the a.

"You better be here to apologize." Beca said bitterly.

Bumper started to laugh and Jesse just smirked. The other Trebles just looked very nervous.

"Oh no, sister, I think you are misunderstanding."

"Don't you dare 'sister' me."

Bumper just smiled and turned to Aubrey as she still was the captain and thereby responsible for the group.

"As I was trying to say, we are here to get some things."

He looked at her expectantly as he pointed to the opened suitcase on the beach. Then, he walked towards the carton box and looked inside.

"You even got us supper!" he shouted to the empty beach in front of him. Then he turned around and whispered. "You shouldn't have."

"You're not getting all of that, we found it." Aubrey stated, folding her arms over her chest.

Bumper just smiled again and he gave Jesse a nod. Beca saw it all happening in slow motion. Jesse moved towards her and his hand shot up to her hair. She felt a harsh tug on the back of her head. His fist clenched in her brown locks as he pulled her towards him. He hold her against him with his arm around her shoulders, his hand still gripping her hair. Her heart skipped a few beats, before it started racing by adrenalin. Her stomach dropped and her knees started shaking. Every nerve in her body flares and she tries to get herself loose, but Jesse is way stronger then she is. She clawed in fear at his arm which he had wrapped around her. He struck her on her cheek, effectively stopping her. She tasted the bitter taste of blood in her mouth. Her heart was racing in her chest as she tried to find a way out of his arms.

Jesse grabbed her harder as she grabbed something out of his pocket. Against the front part of her neck, he pressed a shiny knife, hard, but not hard enough to draw blood.

"A little present I got from a former passenger, Sterling silver, beautiful isn't it? Must be a family treasure." Jesse smirked, but his face showed no emotion.

"No!" Chloe yelled "You can't do this to us!"

"But we can." Bumper stated coolly.

"We should work together as a team!"

"WE STOPPED BEING A TEAM UNTIL LAST YEAR." Bumper suddenly yelled at her.

"We can survive this together! Until help arrives!" Chloe cried.

Bumper pushed Chloe away violently, who had approached him. She fell backwards on the sand.

"Are you really that fucking stupid?! There had already been problems with communication from the take-off, the whole plane saw how nervous the attendants were, when they told us!"

They had? Why didn't they know? But then Beca remembered falling asleep with Chloe. They must have missed it both, because they were asleep.

"The plane had been off the radar for hours when the storm started and swooped us off course and when we crashed! And then we stranded on this fucking place! Miles away from where they are supposed to find us!" Bumper yelled. "How stupid are you, if you do not understand that they are not going to find us!"

Chloe started to cry. Amy wrapped an arm around her. They both looked scared. Chloe's head was spinning with thoughts.

"Now, it's just survival of the fittest. And the fittest, which are obviously the Trebles, have more food if the weaker just disappear."

"After all we have been through, you're betraying us by threatening to kill Beca! You are INSANE!" Aubrey screamed in his face. She was obviously not afraid for him.

Then, he pulled a small revolver out of the space between his belt and his pants, pointing it towards the sky before firing his warning shot. All of the Bellas ducked, startled by the loud bang. Birds flew away, and suddenly, the island became dead quiet, as if it was finally listening to Bumper.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME WHAT INSANITY IS YOU STUPID CUNT!" He yelled, his face had turned red. The Trebles, except for Jesse who was still holding Beca, had backed off from him.

"GET DOWN ON YOUR FUCKING KNEES."

Aubrey and the other Bellas did as they were told. Aubrey trembled but she didn't want to show it. She needed to keep it together, otherwise people would get hurt.

"Bumper, just chill man, don't do anything stupid." Donald said, coming somewhat closer to him. But as he did, Bumper pointed the gun at him and fired next to him in the sand.

"DON'T FUCKING TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"

He yelped, but Bumper didn't seem to care. He turned around again, looking at Aubrey who was kneeling in front of him.

"You are telling ME what fucking insane is?! YOU are insane! YOU are the one who caused this! YOU and the ginger bitch dyke next to you! If it wasn't for YOU, we wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be fighting!"

"I had nothing to do with that! Neither did Chloe! And don't you DARE to call her that!" Aubrey yelled at him as well. Although she was scared of what the group of guys was capable of, she was still angry with him for blaming them. There was nothing they could have done. Her blood was boiling in her veins, so hot, it hurt the skin covering them. Angry tears stung in her eyes.

"Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is?" Bumper paced in a quick way in front of her. He ran his hand through his hair and wiped the sweat of his forehead. His right hand did not loosened his grip on his gun. He took a shaky breath.

"You see, I never liked you. I never liked you, Aubrey, I never liked the little dyke group you are pretending to be." He raised his voice again. "AND YOU GUYS SCREWED THINGS UP EVEN MORE. THAT. Is. Crazy."

Bumper had lost his mind and started rambling. His agitation was visibly growing towards the kneeling girls in front of them. He pulled his leg backwards and kicked Aubrey as hard as he could in her side, and the again in her face. Her hands tried to cover both her stomach and face, but she could not protect both at the same time.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT IT HAPPENED LAST YEAR! DON'T DENY IT YOU CUNT!"

Bumper slammed the toe of his shoe in her ribcage. She curled up in a ball and sobbed loudly, which only fueled his rage.

"ADMIT IT."

He kicked her again anything he could get at. He sweated profusely. The rest of the Trebles didn't react, they only watched as Bumper beat the captain down.

"I SAID ADMIT IT!"

Stacie crawled over when she saw that he was about to kick her again. She settled herself in front of her, trying to stop him, crying out a scream when Bumper hit her instead of Aubrey. Aubrey didn't move.

Bumper saw the gesture when he now was unable to kick Aubrey, as she was protected by Stacie. He kicked her once again in her side and then stopped. Stacie looked at him, furiously, holding her side.

"You are looking at me... DO YOU HAVE A FUCKING PROBLEM IN YOUR HEAD, DO YOU THINK I AM BULLSHITTING YOU? DO YOU THINK I AM LYING? FUCK YOU! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENED."

He took a sharp breath, trying to maintain his temper. Stacie groaned in pain.

"I'm sorry, what did you say? What did you say?" Stacie flinched and got down on the beach even lower.

"Do you want me to beat you up like I did to your friend? SHUT THE FUCK UP! Okay? I'm the one with the fucking dick! Look at me, look me in the fucking eye. HEY! YOU FUCK! Look me in the eye." He grabbed Stacie's face violently and turned her face towards his, until they were mere inches apart.

"You're my bitch. You are worth nothing. You are the biggest whore of them all. I rule this fucking kingdom. Shut the fuck up... or you die."

He sat on his knees, now looking Stacie straight in the eye. He pointed the gun to Stacie's forehead. He let the end of the cold metal rest against her head. She still trembled, she bowed her head to the ground. Her eyes were closed. _This is it_ she thought. She felt the slight twitch of the gun as Bumper laid his finger on the trigger. She prepared herself to get a piece of metal blown in her brains. _Soon, I will see Cynthia again_, she thought, while releasing her breath she had been holding. That was the only thing she wanted to think about. She didn't want to think about the life she would leave behind. Not about the people she would abandon. Only about the people she would be able to see again. She should only think about the good things of dying, otherwise she would break down. Whispering to herself, she kept repeating her mantra.

_I will see Cynthia again I will see Cynthia again IwillseeCynthiaIwillseeCynthiaIwillseeCynthiaIwillsee- _

"It was me!" suddenly Chloe cried.

Bumper lowered the gun in confusion and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand, what did you say?"

"It was me, please, stop this! Take me! It was me! Leave them alone they had nothing to do with it!"

Bumper stayed silent as a grin appeared on his face. He rose and moved over to her.

Stacie slowly opened her eyes. She was relieved he didn't pull the trigger, but she was very aware that Chloe was in big trouble.

"That's all what I wanted to hear." He said calmly.

Beca struggled to get out of Jesse arms, so she could stand up for Chloe, but Jesse still hold her firmly. He pressed the knife even harder to her neck. Bumper looked at her.

He rose to his feet, and moved in front of Beca. He rose his gun to her head and laid his finger on the trigger.

"What did you just do?" he asked Beca, almost inaudible.

"What, you want to run? Huh?! You want to run, you want to disrespect me?" He then shouted as hard as he could. "You want to fuck with me? I mean, YOU STUPID DYKE... with your pretty- face, right, and your dimwit friends who all want to fuck you, your fucking DJ-bullshit, and you want to fuck with me! You want to fuck with me!"

Beca just looked him in the eye, trying to look not scared and relaxed. She was furious at him for treating them like this. Suddenly, his mood changed.

"You know, I like that. No, I respect that! You didn't do anything wrong, did you?" He gave Beca a supporting pat on her shoulder.

"You know what? I'm going to give you thirty seconds." Beca looked at him confused. A few heads of the Bellas rose as well.

"And if the jungle doesn't eat you up alive, I will."

Bumper struck her head with the blunt part of the gun. "Are you FUCKING DEAF?! I SAID GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, YOU CHICKEN FUCK! Run, Rabbit, RUN!"

The Bellas stood up. He turned and grabbed Chloe by her hair.

"No, not you, I'm not done with you yet."

"Then I'm not going either!" Beca folded her arms.

"Beca go!" Chloe cried. Her hand flew to her hair, trying to get loose from his grip. Tears streamed over her face.

"But-"

"GO!"

Beca looked at her, unbelievingly. Pain was visible in her eyes. Slowly she shook her head, not wanting to leave her behind. Tears streamed over her burning cheeks. Ashley grabbed her arm, pulling her with her. First, she resisted, but when also Amy pulled at her arm, she turned around and ran with them. Stacie picked Aubrey up bridal style, holding the unconscious woman against her as she ran. She sprinted towards the woods as fast as she could with the girl in her arms.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Beca got loose from their grip. She turned around and started running again towards the Trebles. _She couldn't leave Chloe behind _was the only thought in her mind. _She couldn't leave her with those psychopaths._ She didn't get far however, before her arms were grabbed by Ashley and Amy again, who pulled her with them. Before she lost sight of the woman on the beach, she cried out a high pitched, piercing scream into the dark sky, which echoed over the empty beach.

"CHLOE!"

They ran, and disappeared into the wall of branches and leaves, leaving the Trebles on the beach.

Bumper stood on the beach and turned Chloe towards the Trebles. She fell down on her knees on the sand. Her whole body was trembling and she couldn't stop herself from shaking. What were they going to do with her? Was this the end? Are they going to kill me?

"Finally she admitted!" he yelled.

He let go of her hair, but before she could get up or run away, she felt the grip of the gun hit the back of her head hard. Her vision blurred, the world spun, and then her vision became black. The last thing she heard, were Bumper's screams.

"Take me into your heart. Accept me as your savior. Nail me to the fucking cross and let me be REBORN!"

* * *

_A/N Bumper, mind your language and anger issues, please! I used some Far Cry 3 quotes because one, that's the best game ever and I thought Bumper as some sort of Vaas in this story. This title and the title of chapter 12 form together the title of the album of Aroth, it's awesome. _

_I'm pretty proud of this chapter! Let me know in a review or a PM what you think and if you have any questions._

_April_

_UPDATE: I already got some questions about what happened between the Bellas and the Trebles last year. You'll figure out in the course of the story, so I won't be spoiling it untill you figure it out ;)_


	14. Chapter 14: Howl

_A/N Hi guys! Has it been 12 days?! How time flies when you're having trouble writing a chapter… I really was struggling with this chapter, because this was extremely hard to write, even harder than CR's death. So I'm really sorry for the delay and I hope that this long chapter will make it up to you._

_Caution! This chapter has some serious triggers, because there is a mention (not a detailed description) of rape. If you feel uncomfortable reading this scene or are offended or triggered by any means by this content, I recommend you skip the third and the sixth part of this chapter (parts are marked by the line breaks), which are the chapters from Chloe's POV._

* * *

_Welcome to the jungle we've got fun and games_

_We got everything you want honey, we know the names_

_We are the people that can find whatever you may need_

_If you got the money honey we got your disease_

"_Miserable" Aubrey said loudly, her voice was shaking. In the very back of the room, she saw her mother. Her mother looked a lot like her, no, she looked like her mother. They both had the same soft, blond hair. Her mother might have had more wrinkles than she had, but she had very little. They had the same white teeth and the same angelic voice. Her mother used to sing in a choir when she was a teenager and a student. When she graduated and met her father, her passion faded, and she stopped singing. However, when her mother was cooking and she thought that Aubrey was upstairs in her room, she sang to herself. She hadn't noticed Aubrey standing around the corner, listening to her._

_Her mother gave a proud smile, before raising her hand and showing a thumbs up. She returned the gesture with a faint smile before noticing the empty seat next to her mother. Her dad hadn't shown up. Again. He promised to be home for Christmas, which was tomorrow. There had probably been some difficulties at the base again, which made him miss his flight. Being in charge of a whole army base in Afghanistan is a tough job and she knew it, but her dad had promised to spend Christmas at home this year, instead of 'with the guys' at the base. She realized she had to spend it alone with mom again this year. Empty promises from her dad were a thing they had gotten used to through the years. But still, each time her father let them know that he was coming to something important, at least for her, and then he didn't show up, was still a disappointment. At least, when she was a child. As she grew older, her hopes faded, because that decreased her disappointment and the frequency in which she got hurt._

"_M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E" she spelled. And that was exactly how she felt. Her mother would cry herself to sleep tonight. Again._

"_Miserable." She said again. Aubrey looked up to her dad and she did admire her dad. He worked hard and made sure she and mom were able to buy anything they wanted in the US and were able to live in a villa with a private gardener. But all the money he brought home, couldn't buy her a Christmas with dad._

_The judges nodded in approval. Her fingers fumbled with the folds in her light pink dress, the prettiest one she had. She and her mother had bought it for this Whitewater Elementary's Spelling Bee. It was a beautiful dress, pink, with white lacings on the edges._

"_Very good." The principal said. The woman in a black skirt turned to the girl standing a few feet in front of her._

"_Horrendous; extremely unpleasant, terrifying, or terrible." She read from another note she was holding. "I climb out of my top bunk and get my Walkman in the hopes that music will drown out the horrendous noise. Horrendous"_

_The woman put the note down and looked at the girl expectantly. The girl was somewhat older than Aubrey, and had a pretty face, surrounded by brown locks of hair. She smirked shortly before giving the right answer._

"_Horrendous. H-O-R-R-E-N-D-O-U-S. Horrendous."_

_Aubrey swallowed hard and looked at her mother again. She began sweating. Big drops of sweat pearled down her back and her forehead. Nobody seemed to notice it._

"_Miss Posen, it's your turn again." The woman with the skirt said, turning herself again, opening another folded note._

"_Island;"_

_Aubrey blinked profusely to sharpen her vision again. The chairs in front of her started trembling, the faces from the people on them were blurring. She heard her heart pounding in her ears and her own shallow and sharp breathing. In the distance she heard the woman continuing, but she couldn't define anything she said. She saw that her mother's smile had vanished._

"_a piece of land surrounded by water. The water which surrounds the island is a rich fishing ground for tuna and mackerel. Island."_

_The people and the chairs in front of her trembled like hot air trembles above asphalt on a warm summer day._

"_I don't…" she stammered._

_Her eyes shot to the principal, who was still looking at her. Slowly the woman shook her head. Then all the lights went out and she felt herself collapse on the wooden stage._

_I don't… Feel good. Know. Want to know. Want to be here. Want my dad to be working this Christmas. Want to fall asleep at the sound of my mother's sobs._

_I don't…_

* * *

"AUBREY!"

What the hell?

"Aubrey please wake up!" she heard someone sobbing.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. She noticed how her body hurt. Her face felt beaten up and her stomach and chest did too. Bumper, now she remembered what happened and how she ended so sore.

She opened her eyes and saw Stacie above her.

"Aubrey! Are you okay?" Ashley asked, sitting on the other side of her, now also appearing in her field of sight.

Aubrey tried to sit up, but her stomach muscles wouldn't let her, because they were sore and bruised by the beating. She got help from the two girls by her side. As she finally sat up, Stacie laid her hand on her cheek and brushed her thumb slightly over the soft skin. Aubrey flinched.

"He hurt you very bad." She said through gritted teeth, still brushing over the bruised skin. Tears ran over her own cheeks in anger. "I'm gonna kill him if I get the chance."

Aubrey turned slightly and saw they were no longer on the beach. They were surrounded by small bushes and tall trees that reached into the dark sky. The wind blew through their leaves, bending the very tops. She heard the deafening rustling of the branches shuddering in the wind, before she heard a sudden desperate cry. A few feet away from her, she saw Beca. Her arms flew forwards, her fists hitting the bark of the tree in front of her. She pulled them back and hit the tree again with all her force. Just when she was about to cry out something, Amy put her strong hands over her mouth before pulling her away from the tree, onto the ground. Beca tried to struggle free, but when she found out Amy was to strong, she gave up and buried herself in her arms, sobbing.

"Shh, easy here, Shawshank…" Amy whispered to her.

"What's up with her?" Aubrey asked nervously.

"It's okay, just, look at me Aubrey." Aubrey's eyes met Stacie's.

"You have to promise me to keep calm, okay? If you make a sound, they will find us, and something really bad will happen, okay? So keep still."

"What is it?"

"It's about Chloe."

Aubrey looked around for the bubbly redhead, but freaked out when she didn't see her anywhere.

"Shhh… Keep it still…"

"Where is Chloe?" she whispered.

* * *

"_In the jungle, welcome to the jungle_

_Watch it bring you to your knnn knne knees, knees_

_I want to watch you bleed_" Jesse sang to himself.

As Chloe opened her eyes, she saw him sitting next to her. The knife dangled in a socket on his belt.

"Good, you're awake, they hit you pretty hard back there." He chuckled, showing no sign of compassion.

She tried to remove her hands from her back, but noticed they rubbed against a thick, sticky surface. Panic overtook her body as she tried to break free. The redhead's breathing quickened as panic set in. She squirmed frantically against her restraints in a useless attempt to get them loose.

"Don't try to escape, we found some duct-tape in another suitcase we found." He moved somewhat closer to her. "The others are looking for more of them."

"Stay away from me!" She tried to sound unafraid and strong, but her cry sounded weak, like a toddler's.

Jesse rose his eyebrows.

"Are you afraid of me?" he asked. "It's me, Jesse."

"You ARE NOT Jesse, I don't know who you are, but I don't know you." She spat back.

Jesse sighed in anger.

"You don't know me? I don't know you! You just confessed doing… doing…" He couldn't say it.

"I don't know what they might have told you, but it wasn't me! Let me tell me my version of-"

She was cut off by a hand that struck her face.

"STOP LYING" he scoffed "God, Bumper already warned me what a manipulative cunt you were."

Chloe shivered in fear by hearing that name again. Her hand tugged on the tape on her wrist in a reflex to cover her stricken face.

"And you call ME manipulative?! You weren't even there when it happened!"

"Bumper… Would never lie to me. I trust him. And it is your fault that Brian died, you shouldn't have left him."

"Jesse… What happened to you…"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! I THINK YOU FORGOT WHO'S IN CHARGE!" he shouted as he stuck her in her stomach again. She curled up in a small ball.

_Welcome to the jungle we take it day by day_

_If you want it you're gonna bleed but it's the price to pay_

_And you're a very sexy girl that's very hard to please_

_You can taste the bright lights but you won't get there for free_

"Geez Chloe" he said after he cooled himself down. "I used to have a thing for redheads like you." He sighed. "And then you stole my girlfriend away from me. Just like that. And she isn't even gay."

"Jesse, Beca and I are just friends…" she stammered.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME."

"There is nothing going on between us!"

"You know what" his hand went through his hair "I think you forgot who's in charge. You show no respect. And that needs to be punished, Bumper said to me. And boy oh boy, he told me the perfect way to punish a gorgeous woman like yourself." He licked his lips and smirked. "And I love to know why Beca prefers you over me."

Chloe's eyes widened. What did he say? What was going to happen?

_In the jungle welcome to the jungle_

_Feel my, my, my serpentine_

_Ooh, I want to hear you scream_

He leaned in and Chloe backed off, but eventually laid flat on the sand, not able to go any further. She felt his thin lips pressed against hers, first softly, then harder when she tried to turn her face away. Her muffled cries against his lips only seemed to anger him. He pushed her head hard in the sand and forced his lips on hers again. His hips grinded against hers. For a moment she escaped from his grip and was able to turn her head away from him.

_Welcome to the jungle it gets worse here every day_

_Ya learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play_

_If you hunger for what you see you'll take it eventually_

_You can have everything you want but you better not take it from me_

"BACK OFF" she yelled.

Jesse however, grabbed her head with one strong hand and forced his lips on hers again. Her mind exploded while she thought of ways to escape, but she wasn't able to form a comprehensive plan in her head. Every scenario in her head only led to one conclusion: I won't make it. His hand moved from her knee to her inner thigh, inching closer to her center each second. He pulled her head back violently by gripping her hair, attacking her neck with his mouth. She screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that somebody would hear her. Beca. Where is Beca. Where is Aubrey. She needed them.

_You know where you are?_

_You're down in the jungle baby, you're gonna die_

Jesse struck her and put his hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"Shut the fuck up!" he hissed, quickly unbuttoning her jeans with one hand. He could have a quick one, before the Trebles would return who probably had heard her. He flipped her over, so she laid face down on the sand and slid her pants and panties down her long legs, before unbuttoning his owns pants.

"If you scream again, I'll fucking kill you, you hear me?!"

_In the jungle welcome to the jungle_

_Feel my, my, my serpentine_

* * *

"Stacie, I can't stay here! I need to find her, she's my best friend!" Aubrey yelled.

"They will kill you both! You've seen how dangerous they can be! We are not letting you leave!"

"That's why we can't leave her there!" Beca stood next to Aubrey. The other Bellas stood around them, preventing them for running away to the beach again. To Chloe.

"I can't live with leaving her there to get hurt!" Aubrey inched closer to Stacie, until their heads almost touched. "I'm sorry, but I can't." She said softly, before she punched the brunette in front of her in the stomach, grabbing Beca's arm and dashing past her, disappearing in the dense forest. Stacie collapsed on the ground by the blow.

"AUBREY!"

_In the jungle welcome to the jungle_

_Watch it bring you to your knees, knees_

Aubrey still had Beca by the arm, dragging her with her. They ran for what seemed to be an infinity. Small branches scratched their faces, winding roots on the soft soil grabbed at their ankles, bringing them down on their knees. Thorny bushes caught the fabric of their clothing, sweat pearled down their faces.

They stopped when they were certain the Bellas wouldn't be able to find them. Beca leaned forwards, her elbows resting on her bended knees, trying to catch her breath again. Aubrey leaned backwards against a tree, panting heavily, looking upwards to the sky. She tried with might and main to ignore the pain in her body and to disregard the swollen bruises on her face and torso. She stumbled towards Beca.

"Where- Where are we going now?"

"I don't know." Beca admitted.

"What?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you know which direction you came from when you fled into the jungle, right?"

"I don't. I was scared, no- we were scared, we didn't follow a straight path…" she panted.

Aubrey paced in a small circle before standing still again.

"So you have no idea how to get to Chloe, where we are and how we get back to the Bellas?" her hands were raised into the air in frustration.

Beca didn't answer, she only ran her hands through her hair and sighed.

_In the jungle welcome to the jungle_

_Watch it bring you to your knees, knees_

* * *

"Ohh…" Bumper moaned. "You sure have good ideas, buddy." He pulled out of Chloe, zipped himself and got up.

"Better clean up the mess, before the other Trebles come back as well." he said, as he poked the side of the unconscious girl in front of him with the front of his shoe.

"I'm glad that I came back early when I heard her scream."

Jesse smiled at him and readjusted the top up that they had pushed down her shoulders to expose her breasts. He put her undergarments and pants back on and buttoned it.

Shame. Fear. Disgust. Pain. Hate. Chloe felt herself gaining conscious again, and as soon as she did, she wished she didn't. All the pain from her body seemed to have gathered in between her legs. The blood on her tights made her trousers stick to her legs. When she found enough strength to move, she curled up a ball, her knees clenched to her chest and started crying. Her whole body was shaking. She felt disgusting and the only thing she wanted to do was to die right there. She wasn't able to think straight by all the pain that had stricken her body. She howled in sorrow.

"You are not so brave now, are you?" Bumper scoffed.

"Please, kill me…" she whispered.

"Now, where's the fun in that?"

_In the jungle_

_Welcome to the jungle_

_Watch it bring you to your_

_It's gonna bring you down_

* * *

_A/N Who wants to bring Bumper and Jesse down? *raises hand* _

_Let me know what you think! I put a lot of time and effort in this chapter and I'm fairly content with it, so I'd love to hear what you guys think. Thanks for all the reviews and PM's! The song I used, for those who don't know or recognize it, is 'Welcome to the Jungle' by Guns n' Roses._

April


	15. Chapter 15: Below My Feet

_A/N: I can explain! This week and last week I've been on holiday, which means sun, sea, no computer, no dictionary and no Internet. Which also means that this is not beta'd. All mistakes are mine._

_I created a Tumblr (finally) so if you want to ask or say something, you can also do it here: _

_ aprilchloeblue .tumblr . com_

_you can also check out some other pitch perfect and Bechloe content I composed and some concept art I made for this story!_

_Anyways, enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 15: _Below My Feet _

Thunder strikes, before it starts raining, doesn't it? Isn't that always how it goes? First, the skies are blue, the air is thick and warm when suddenly the heaven turns gray and ominous. Winds start blowing over the landscape, the birds flee and the rabbits find their hole. The sky turns grayer and grayer each second, but it doesn't start raining. Only when the first thunder bolt strikes the fragile earth, that's when the rains come pouring down, like on judgement's day.

Now thunder had stricken Chloe, rain poured down on the island, humidifying the warm soil. The other Trebles had returned, but had no attention for Chloe, for they were covering their important supplies, trying to protect them from the downpour. The water drained her hair and made the sand stickier than ever. The rain flushed away the fresh vomit next to her, which was nothing more than a small puddle of the water she had drunk a few hours ago.

Words were not able to describe how miserable she felt; she felt dirty and sore, hurt and abused. At least she was able to cry without any further beating, because her tears were masked by the raindrops on her face. She hated everything. She hated the Trebles. She hated her life, she wanted to die. And above all, she hated the world that kept turning.

* * *

A few miles away from her, Aubrey and Beca still found themselves in an another abandoned area in the forest when the rain started pouring. Aubrey had calmed down to a state of hope which produced a form of desperate energy when she tried with might and main to locate her best friend.

"So if the sun was in front of us when clouds were formed, that means that..."

Aubrey looked around for any signs of the burning star.

"...We should go that way." She said certainly, pointing at a, at least for Beca, random direction.

"And why's that?"

"Because the clouds are lighter here, so there's the sun."

Beca stood up and took a better look at the dark clouds above them.

"I don't see it."

Aubrey sighed in frustration.

"Me neither, but I don't know what to do else."

Suddenly, as if to answer their thoughts, they heard a high pitched scream. A cry for help pierced through jungle and echoed between the tall trees surrounding them. The cry was reflected, again and again, making it unbearable to listen to and making it almost imlossible to locate. Almost. Aubrey's head turned quickly to where the sound had come from. Before she could run off, Beca grabbed her wrist.

"But what are we going to do there these guys are dangerous!"

"Chloe is in danger. She needs me. She needs us." She sympathised the last part.

Beca doubted for a moment, then grabbed Aubrey's hand so she wouldn't lose her, and they both disappeared into the jungle.

* * *

Chloe made sure she kept still during the Trebles dinner. It was becoming dark. Their dinner was nothing more than a few crackers and four coconuts they had found on the beach, but watching them eat made her realise how hungry and above all how thirsty she was. She turned her and saw how one Treble cracked the coconuts open with Jesse's knife, drinking its milk and passing it around before cutting it in pieces. Bumper, obviously, got a bigger piece compared to the other's. When all that was left were the hairy shells, they collected rainwater in the hollow fruit and drank it eagerly. It had been almost one and a half day since she had drunk something, since she had vomited several times since then, throwing up everything she had taken in, before her body was able to digest any of it. She was lying a few dozen feet away from them, so she was able to roll on her back without them noticing. She rose her torso a little, while opening her mouth to catch a little rainwater. Her body soon protested because it was still hurting from everything she had been through, so she fell down not long after she had come up. The thud that followed wasn't loud, but it was noticed by one of the Trebles: Unicycle.

The curly haired boy stood up and walked towards her with the knife and the tape in his hand and his other holding his rain-filled coconut.

"What are jou doing?" Donald asked him when he stood up.

"I'm gonna check on her, make sure the tape isn't coming loose by the rain."

Donald shrugged and focussed on the good and talking with the other Trebles, just like the rest of the group.

As Unicycles approached her, Chloe panicked again. Her breathing became laboured, her eyes darted around her looking for something to defend herself with and she struggled against her restraints. The boy kneeled down next to her.

"Hey are you okay? I thought I heard something."

"I'm fine" She lied, hoping he would leave. She gave herself away by flinching when he touched her shoulder.

_He doesn't know _she thought. _Of course he doesn't know, he wasn't there and they hadn't told him. _

"Are you cold, you're shivering." He put his supplies down and slid his navy blue vest off his shoulders. He lifted her torso, wrapping the piece of clothing around her.

"It's probably soaked, but at least it's something." He said still inspecting her.

"I'm sorry about all this," he said pointing at the tape. "the Trebles are still a bit paranoid about what happened."

"I didn't do it." She said. Her voice was raw and cracked.

"I know."

He looked over his shoulder and placed himself carefully between the group and the girl, blocking their sight. Chloe's eyes got big.

"Here drink something."

Without waiting for an answer he lifted her head with his right hand and put the bowl to her lips with the other. She drank untill there was no water left.

"You know it's illegal to tie someone down and keep her against their will." She tried to convince him.

He bowed his head and thought about something for a minute. When he was about to answer someone called for him.

"Yo Uni are you coming or what?" Jesse yelled at him.

"I should go." Unicycle stood up and walked back without looking back.

* * *

"Are you sure it came from there?" Aubrey asked as she stood still. Beca cursed. She desperately looked around her.

"We have been here before, look at that tree with the bark."

"All the trees have that kind of bark."

"No not like this one!" Beca assured her frustrated. "We've been walking around in circles!"

* * *

The rain had stopped when the night fell. The Trebles had lit a small fire, before laying down to get some sleep. They had decided to stay awake in turns to guard their supplies and to watch over Chloe. The woman was still tied down on the same spot af he had been lying the whole afternoon. Her heart was pounding, not by fear or pain, but by excitement. She had thought of a plan to escape. If wasn't flawless and mistakes would probably get her killed, but there was a small chance that it would actually work. The first step was to wait until all the Trebles were asleep. Michael, the med student, was first on guard, so he was the only one wake, poking the fire with a stick as the rest of the Trebles dozed off. Michael might have been a med student, he was not a smart guy. That's how he ended up with all the jobs the rest of the Trebles didn't want, like guarding first. Plus, he was a med student like Chloe, so he knew her from classes and he trusted her, despite the fact they weren't friends. That's why Michael was the perfect guy for her plan.

As she was sure all the Trebles were dozed off. She got his attention by twisting her body, attempting to get up. He came quickly towards her.

"Hey you! Stay down!" He whispered.

"I need to pee!" She lied, looking him directly in the eye, hoping he would remember them working together, although it seemed like a lifetime ago.

He looked at the sleeping Trebles and realised, just as she had hoped, that the Trebles probably would hey very angry at him for waking them for this.

"Fine." He sighed and pulled her onto her feet, which weren't tied. He waited for her to do something.

"How am I supposed to pee like this?!" She whispered angry, to convince him that it was stupid to think that she could pee with her hands tied.

He turned around to wake the Trebles.

"Are you seriously waking them for this? They'll get mad, you know. And I have nowhere to run to, so please, don't embarras yourself."

He turned towards her again.

"No, you're right." He said, looking a bit confused. Because Jesse didn't trust him enough, he didn't have the knife, so he untied her wrists carefully. Chloe released a breath she didnt knew she was holding. One more step in her plan and she was free. She fumbled somewhat with the buttons on her pants as he ripped off a new piece of tape. While he wasn't paying attention, she kicked him in his nuts as hard as she could. He stumbled backwards and fell to his knees. She saw that Bumper and other Trebles had awakened and were coming to her. As fast as she could, like a rabbit running from a fox, she ran into the jungle. Behind her she heard angry screams. _Keep running_. One shot from a gun. _Keep running._ A loud thud._ Run. _More screams. _Run._

"GET HER"

The Jungle was dark and she had no sense of direction. There was a possibility she would return to the beach if she just kept running without a plan. She kept running for a few moments when she saw a normal looking tree, but with lower branches. With all of her strength, she raised herself onto the lowest one, before climbing to the very top, about 15 feet above the ground.

Voices came closer. She hold her breath and tried to sit still.

Suddenly, Bumper stopped right under her tree, looking around him in frustration. He reloaded his gun.

"I will fucking KILL her when I find her!"

* * *

_A/N: let me know what you think! And say hi on Tumblr (it will probably take a while for me to respond because still have no Internet and I'm still confused how Tumblr works )_

_April_


	16. Chapter 16: Everlasting Night

_A/N: I don't really have anything to say, so enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 16: _Everlasting Night_

"Beca, it's getting dark…" Aubrey looked around her. The sounds of the forest were changing. The chirping of crickets replaced the singing of birds. The trees seemed even taller than they were before.

"We should camp here, otherwise we'll get lost."

Beca nodded in agreement, but also in defeat. They hadn't found Chloe yet, and she was worried since she heard the scream. But a mistake in locating the sound only took them further away from the girl. They were hopelessly lost.

Together they sat down as the forest became darker each second. Beca's back rested against a tree. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Aubrey scooted closer to her.

"What if it's too late?" Beca noticed how sad she sounded and, although it was very against her principles, she lowered her legs and opened her arms for Aubrey to come closer. The blonde snuggled in her arms and buried her face in her chest as she cried softly. Beca sat there, brushing her hand over her back and her other hand stroking the blond locks. She sighed, feeling herself relaxing a little. She noticed that after a while her sobbing decreased and turned into deep inhales and exhales. Aubrey was asleep.

* * *

"Stacie, if you do not calm down I'll tie you to that tree." Amy warned her.

Ashley gave her a warning look, but agreed to her.

"You need to sit down for a while, you look pale."

"I-I can't. We need to find them." The world was spinning in front of her eyes. She was dizzy and feeling like she was about to throw up. But she had to stay strong. She paced a few steps to the left. _Or should they go right?_ She took a few steps right. She had to help them. The girls around her looked at her in worry. She felt her heartbeat pounding in the wounds on her back.

"We need… We…" she maundered before collapsing in Lily's arms.

"She's having a fever attack" she said after she laid her hand on her forehead. "Let's take a look at her back now she's out."

They carefully removed the bandages, that were sticking onto the wounds with a yellowish fluid which covered the burns.

"I may not be a medic, but that's infected." Amy concluded.

"What are we going to do?" Ashley said in worry.

"I wish Chloe was here…"

* * *

Beca woke up at the sound of a snapping twig. Startled, she looked around her. It was dark now, the stars and the moon were the only things that illuminated the forest. She heard nothing again, except for the bugs. The blonde was still laying her head on her shoulder, fast asleep. She looked around her again, more carefully and jumped a little when the wind blew through the trees. _It must have been an animal_. She moved her head a little, loosening up the stiff muscles in her neck from sleeping in a sitting position. Snap… It now sounded a lot closer and came from their right, from behind the dark bushes.  
"Aubrey, wake up, I heard something!" she whispered

She woke up and they stood up.

"Where did it come from?" Aubrey whispered back.

"It came from over there!" Beca pointed in a direction.

"Is it an animal?" She sounded afraid. The Aubrey Posen was scared.

"Well I haven't exactly asked." Beca spat back.

Step by step they inched closer towards the bushes. The bushes rustled softly by the wind. Or by something far more dangerous. Beca picked up a wooden branch from the grass in front of her and held it threateningly in front of her.

"Get behind me." Beca commanded, stepping in front of her. Aubrey was surprised by the guardian role she took on, but obeyed.

"Who's there?"

More rustling.

She tensed the grip on the stick and rose her voice.

"Show yourself."

The rustling again, followed by a tall boy crouching from the bushes.

"Wow, calm down okay, it's me." Unicycle said.

Beca dropped the stick and let out the breath she was holding. She hands where in her hair while she sighed audibly, trying to release the tension that had built in her head.

"Don't you ever do that again, next time you'll get hurt."

Aubrey didn't seem so sure he was harmless and looked at him in suspect.

"Are you here to kidnap us?"

"What? No, good Lord no. I'm glad I found you before Bumper did, he completely lost his mind and is searching for any Bella he can find to kill them. Keep it down, would you?"

"Wait, what are you talking about? What happened to Chloe?"

"Listen, we had Chloe tied down with some duct tape we found and they were beating her and-."

"WHAT?! He should have held his dirty paws off her!" Beca whispered angry. "I swear I'm gonna do something the next time I see him! I'll kill the fucker! What exactly did he do?"

"They… They hit and kicked her a few times."

"Are you sure?" She squinted her eyes and looked at him in suspicion.

"I'm sure." He said, raising his hands as if to defend his statement.

"Let him finish Beca, what happened to her?" Aubrey asked. She was visibly moved and angry.

"When Michael was on guard, she somehow escaped and now Bumper and the rest of the Trebles are hunting her."

"If I ever meet him again, he's so dead." Beca said angrily.

"Let's not forget that he has a gun and you guys don't, so don't rush into things." He warned. "You girls must focus now on getting the fuck out of here. Where's the rest of your group? You need to stick together, because he's on a killing spree tonight, he already killed Michael and-"

"He WHAT?!"

Unicycle rubbed over the back of his neck and sighed.

"He shot Michael for letting Chloe escape."

"Oh my God, that guy is insane." Aubrey sighed and paced in a small circle.

"Do you know where Chloe is now?"

"I don't." He admitted. "Where is the rest of your group?"

"We got…" Beca hesitated "...separated."

Unicycle rose an eyebrow. "Right."

He shook his head to brush the confusion of his mind and turned to them.

"Reunite with the rest of your group and flee as deep as you can into the jungle. Find somewhere a good place to hide and stay hidden there for at least 2 days."

Both girls nodded in agreement.

"What about you? Are you coming with us?"

Unicycle shook his head. "I'm staying with them. I'll try to keep them away from you as far as possible and to keep him from killing more of us."

"Okay." Beca turned around and walked a few feet away from him. "Aubrey are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there." She turned to Unicycle and laid her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it a little. "Thank you for helping us."

Unicycle gave her a nod and turned around before disappearing into the darkness.

* * *

Chloe tried to stand up, but her foot on which she tried to stand couldn't carry her weight, slipped away and she fell again on the wet grass. She had fallen out of the tree. When Bumper had run off, she had waited for a few minutes, before she tried climbing out of the tree the same way she had gotten in. The branches only seemed wetter and therefore slipperier than when she climbed up. When she put her foot on the bark, it slipped away and she fell a couple feet before she hit the grass. Her ankle had broken the fall and now it was swelling rapidly and hurt like hell. She was able to move her foot, so it was probably not broken, but she wasn't able to stand on it.

Desperate and frustrated she tried to crawl. She had to run far away from here, if the Trebles would find her, she would be dead. That's how she found the strength to crawl, on her hands and knees. It went slow because her ankle was throbbing and felt like it could burst out of her skin any moment. She looked over her shoulder, afraid that suddenly Bumper would stand behind her, with that awful grin on his face. _Maybe it's even better to die here,_ she thought, _then letting them find me alive_. Thoughts of ways to escape the inevitable reunion with the men who destroyed her life were forming in her head. Her mind went from drowning herself to climbing in a tree and falling again, and again, and again, until she would break her neck. Tears streamed over her face as she curled up in a ball. She was tired. Her body was tired. Tired of fighting for her life. Tired of being scared and alone. Her body shook but she tried not to make a sound. But deep inside she knew her last minutes in this world had passed. Her thoughts were only confirmed when she heard several pairs of footsteps approaching her rapidly. _Please let it be over soon._

* * *

_A/N: Please review! Oh my Tumblr is over here: __aprilchloeblue . tumblr . c o m __so message me or something!_

_Blue_


	17. Chapter 17: A Mirror Has Two Faces

_A/N Yes, it has been a while! I've been trying to put even more effort into a chapter, to give it a deeper meaning and to complicate the plot, to connect certain parts and to make reading more fun. I will probably need more time to finish a chapter when using this new style._

_There are two different kinds of thoughts from Chloe. The __**bold ones are a voice in her head **__ and the italic ones (as usual). Chloe is going kind of insane this chapter, so don't worry if you don't get it. _

* * *

Chapter 17: _A Mirror Has Two Faces_

_**Consider the following list as the steps of preparing an animal sacrifice.**_

_**1\. Cover the animal with flowers.**_

_A hug. Cuddling. Nothing more._

_**2\. Dip a torch in the water.**_

_Boom. Crash. End of story._

_**3\. Hide the knife below the grain in the basket.**_

_Why did it happen?_

_**4\. Burn hair of the animal.**_

_Crying, screaming, healing and hurting._

_**5\. When the animal nods in agreement, slice the throat of the animal and make sure it looks up to the heaven.**_

_This is exactly what happened._

_**6\. Let music play. When using pre recorded music, make sure you've got a spare pair of batteries.**_

_Why does it have to be so difficult._

_**7\. Let women scream repeatedly.**_

_Let them find me._

_**8\. Collect the blood in a suitable basket. Stainless steel is recommended.**_

_Let them find me._

_**9\. Skin the animal.**_

_Let them find me already._

_**10\. Burn the thigh bones for the gods.**_

_Find me, shoot me through the head._

_**11\. Pour a little wine on the fire.**_

_Find me, shoot me in the stomach, let me bleed to death._

_**12\. Eat what is left.**_

_That's exactly why it happened._

Chloe was just laying on the grass. Incoherent thoughts clouded her mind. She might as well wait for it.

_**On the next page you see the instructions of sacrificing humans. Take a moment to study the images. **_

She reached for the back pockets of her jeans and took the picture and held it above her. The girls were still smiling. How could they be smiling when she was about to die? She rubbed her thumb over the picture, feeling if it was real or just her imagination. But the girls were still smiling.

_**Read the question carefully before answering. Your answer must include three of the following words:**_

_**Pain.**_

_**Carbon.**_

_**Honour.**_

Chloe had figured it out. The girls were still smiling, so it must mean that she wasn't going to die yet. She and Aubrey were going to make the same picture like Ellie and the brunette had. She had to pick three of the words.

_**Insanity.**_

_**Terror.**_

_**Freedom.**_

* * *

"Chloe?!" Beca yelled. "Chloe? Where are you!"

"Would you please stop yelling?! They might hear us!"

"Thats the point isn't it?!".

"Where could she be? We looked everywhere for her!"

* * *

_**Earth.**_

_**Justice.**_

_**God.**_

She crawled on her hands and knees. They couldn't be far away. She crawled further, soothing the pain in her body with the thought of her friends. Of Aubrey. Of Beca. What was her answer?

_**Power.**_

_**Blood.  
Family.**_

They must have gone looking for her. They must have. They were her friends. Friends don't leave friends behind.

_**Faith.**_

_**Tribe.**_

_**Denial.**_

Three words.

_**Your answer may not include more than fifteen hundred words. Using animal blood is prohibited. Only human blood is allowed.**_

* * *

Suddenly Aubrey and Beca stopped and saw a faint figure kneeling on the ground in the distance.

"Is that Chloe?"

"It could be a trap, be careful." Aubrey whispered.

"Chloe?!" Beca yelled.

The figure turned around. There was a brief moment of silence.

"Beca?" a soft insecure voice sounded.

"Chloe!" Beca ran towards her, embracing her when they met. Aubrey quickly followed.

"Bree!" Chloe also flew into the arms of the blonde.

"Chloe are you okay? What happened?"

"I-I tripped and fell and bruised my ankle."

"Let me take a look at it, is it bad?" Aubrey said, already undoing the laces on Chloe's, no Ellie's shoes. Chloe quickly pulled her foot away as she winced in pain.

"It's not that bad, where are the others."

"Tell me first what happened to you when you were with the Trebles." Beca urged.

"They- They were really nice. We talked for a while and then they understood and let me go to join you again." Her eyes were empty and her face showed no emotion.

"Are you sure?" Aubrey asked in surprise as she remembered what Unicycle had told them.

"Yes. They didn't hurt me." Chloe looked to the ground.

Aubrey gave Beca a questioning look, but Beca signed to leave it for now.

"So what happened to the rest? Where are Amy and the others?"

"We-"

"We decided to split up while looking for you." Beca cut her off. Her face showed no sign of the lie she just told.

"Anyways, we should get going." Aubrey said. "Can you walk on that leg?"

Chloe shook her head and tried to ignore the voice in her head that was still screaming incoherent things.

"That's okay just lean on us."

Chloe wrapped her left arm around Aubrey's neck and her right arm around Beca's.

"Let's go."

* * *

"We definitely have been here before." Aubrey stated.

"Why can't we figure this out?" Beca sighed.

"Look over there, what's that?"

"It's like a fire!" Beca yelled. "Stacie! Amy!"

Faint figures ran towards them. Stacie flew into Chloe's arms first, before hugging Aubrey afterwards, as the others hugged Chloe as well. Aubrey closed her eyes. Her hand had gripped her hair. She pulled Stacie her even closer and inhaled deeply, breathing in her scent.

"I'm glad you're back." Stacie whispered, still not letting go. "Don't you ever do that again, I was so worried about you."

"I'm so sorry." Aubrey whispered.

"Stacie," Amy pulled her off Aubrey. "You need to rest."

"What happened?" Chloe asked concerned as she crawled to Stacie, who laid down on her stomach.

"She had a fever attack." Ashley said. "We checked her wounds and they're infected. We cleaned them when it was raining and covered it again."

"It's not too bad…" Stacie said.

"You just stay here and don't move, you need to relax. Did she take more aspirin?"

"You can ask me I'm right here."

"Just one, does she need more?" Ashley asked, ignoring what Stacie said and grabbed the bag Amy had hidden from the Trebles.

"Give all of them."

"But-"

"Just take them."

"Okay."

* * *

Meanwhile, Aubrey had taken Beca to the side of the open place, so the others weren't able to overhear their discussion.

"Why would she lie to us?" Aubrey whispered.

"I don't know but I'm starting to think that the boys didn't just 'fool around' with her."

"She's hiding something. And I want to know what it is." Aubrey said as she turned around to walk to Chloe but Beca grabbed her arm.

"Don't. Just give her some time. She probably has a good reason to keep what she's hiding from us."

"You've heard what they're capable of! What if something like, seriously bad happened to her?"

"Then she'll have to give it a place in her head before she would tell anyone else."

Aubrey sighed in defeat. What Beca said made sense, no matter how she hated the idea.

"The Chloe I know has never had any secrets for me."

"That's not true." Beca looked into her eyes. "Everyone got secrets."

"Are you questioning our friendship?" She spat back.

"I'm saying that when people hide something, it's stays hid until they want it found. Especially with Chloe. By pushing her you won't achieve anything. You'll just push her further away from you."

"But one day she will tell me what happened." Aubrey snorted, before heading back to the group.

* * *

Beca laid flat on her back, looking to the stars, which were mostly hidden by a roof of tree leaves. She couldn't sleep. Her mind kept thinking about the events of today and about Chloe. What would have happened to her? What did the Trebles do to her that she was defending them? And why was she defending them at all? Or was it Unicycle that had been lying? But why would he be lying? And why would they otherwise hunt Chloe down? Were they even hunting her down? What if that was a lie as well, they hadn't seen any of the Trebles besides Unicycle?

So many questions she didn't have the answers to. She couldn't sleep because she was afraid of what might happen tomorrow. What were they supposed to do? How were they to survive here without any decent supplies?

All these thoughts were giving her a headache. She couldn't sleep. The others probably would be asleep already. She rolled over to her side and stared into two bright blue eyes. She was lying next to Chloe, who, apparently, wasn't able to sleep as well. She moved somewhat closer to her so they could talk without waking the others.

"Are you okay?" she asked her, their faces mere inches apart.

"No." She replied honestly.

She brushed a strand of red hair from her face.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you." Beca stared straight at her.

"Nothing happened."

The voice in her head screamed and no one heard it besides her. Beca saw that she flinched.

"Try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll talk about this."

Chloe nodded as tears streamed own her face. She closed her eyes. Beca continued stroking her hair as she softly sang Chloe to sleep.

"_Darling, darling, doesn't have a problem_

_Lying to herself 'cause her liquor's top shelf_

_It's alarming honestly how charming she can be_

_Fooling everyone, telling them she's having fun"_

Chloe opened her eyes as if she wants to say something. But, to Beca's disappointment she just stares at her and says nothing.

_She says, "You don't want to be like me_

_Don't wanna see all the things I've seen."_

_I'm dying, I'm dying_

_She says, "You don't want to get this way_

_Hurt and broken at an early age."_

_Lying, I'm lying"_

_**When you completed the test, leave your sheet at your desk and leave the room in silence, so the other participants can complete the test. Take all your belongings with you. Do not leave anything behind.**_

* * *

_A/N so that was a lot different than usual! Let me know what you think! Everything what she's thinking has a second meaning, but I don't know if you are able to find it? Let me know what you think is the meaning behind the animal sacrifice and the test!_

_Blue_


	18. Chapter 18: Between Five and Six

_A/N_ _Sup guys! Wow I caught some of you off guard with the previous chapter! This chapter will shine light on what happened. Remember guys, Chloe's going nuts, so don't worry if you didn't get it. It won't happen each chapter, because she only gets it when she's freaked out, but it will happen again. Don't try to understand it though. I thought it would be funny if I put a little easter egg in the first hallucination, but until now no one's got it right (cruel me, hehe). Anyways, enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 18: _Between Five and Six_

"So tell me again, why aren't we going back to the beach if the Trebles aren't dangerous anymore?" Amy said, pulling a branch away so she could walk through the overgrown path the other Bellas in front of her created.

"Because it's easier to find a place in the forest. They can have the beach, and we can have the jungle." Chloe said again. Each time she said it, it sounded more unbelievable.

"Right." Beca said.

"All right, let's take five everyone!" Aubrey said and everybody collapsed on the ground. It was around one pm. It was already frigging hot and every little piece of clothing they were wearing was wet from the sweat and the damp air. Chloe unwrapped her arm around Beca's shoulders and dropped herself on the ground, making sure she pute no pressure on her foot. It was already better than yesterday, but since they were walking a lot today, they decided not to burden the ankle too much. They had found nothing to eat or to drink yet and it was taking a toll on all the girls. The walking pace was dramatically slower than in the morning. The silence of the forest was once in a while interrupted by the growling from one stomach, screaming for food.

Amy dropped her back against a tree and closed her eyes. When she her back hit the bark of the tree behind her, she heard a thud close to her. She opened her eyes again. What was that? Next to her was a round shaped object, green with a red spot on the side. The object was a little larger than her fist. She grabbed it and studied it.

"Guys?"

The others looked at her. An audible gasp escaped from Aubrey's mouth as she grabbed the object.

"It's a mango!" She yelled. She handled the object with care like it was a baby. Her eyes were wide like she had seen a ghost.

"Where did you get this?!"

"It fell from the tree!" Amy stood up and tried to shake the tall tree she had been sitting against. In the top of the branches, small red dots could be seen, as the rest of the fruits' bodies were green and thus invisible against the roof of leaves. Some of the fruits came falling down. The girls caught them and collected them on a pile.

"Keep shaking!" Aubrey commanded as Amy and Ashley were shaking the tree until they were exhausted. They had collected a small pile of 12 mangoes. Aubrey gave one fruit to each one, but they waited to eat them. They looked at the piece of gold in their hands.

Hesitantly, Stacie brought the piece of fruit to her mouth and took a small bite. Sweet juices dripped from the fruit over her lips down her chin. She turned the piece of fruit flesh in her mouth with her tongue to fully perceive its taste. She has tasted nothing like this before in her life. The fruit was so sweet and juicy it felt like the taste was absorbed by her teeth, the flesh on the inside of her cheeks and her gums. The taste was everywhere and spread its magic all around in her body as she swallowed it. She took another bite, but now a bigger one, chewed it carefully, then another, and another, until she only got the seed in her palm. The other Bellas had eaten the fruit as well and looked content, almost happy. It was one of the most extraordinary tastes they had ever eaten.

* * *

When they had finished the pile, they went to lie down for a little as Beca and Lily tried to get more mangoes from the tree.

Chloe and Stacie sat next to each other. Aubrey, Amy and Ashley were in a conversation.

"Stacie, I need to pee, can you help me walk?"

"Yeah sure." Stacie stood up and reached for the girl to help her stand.

"Where are you going?" Aubrey asked.

"I need to pee."

"Okay."

Aubrey focussed on the conversation again. Stacie and Chloe walked away until they couldn't see the group anymore. Stacie turned away from her.

"Okay, I'll turn around, but do it quickly, I'm not sure how long I can constrain myself from looking at your naked booty." she said jokingly.

"Stacie?" Chloe's voice trembled. Stacie looked over her shoulder.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uhm, sure. What's up?" Stacie said as she turned around.

"Promise me you won't freak out."

Stacie folded her arms. "That's actually the worst way to begin a confession."

"Then promise me you won't tell anyone."

Stacie stayed silent for a moment and looked at her. Chloe was rubbing her hands nervously, wiping the sweat on her palms on her jeans. She did the Chloe-lip-thing again, sucking them in and letting go again, something she did when she wanted to say something or when she was nervous.

"What's going on?"

"I-I guess I got traumatised by everything what happened." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either, but it would do for now. "And I've been thinking about what happened a lot."

Her eyes shifted from the grass to the other girl's. She got her attention.

"Go on." Stacie urged.

"And yesterday when I was alone in the woods, I thought again." Chloe took a deep breath. "When a voice interrupted my thoughts." She waited for any kind of response.

Stacie rose her eyebrows. "What? Like a thought?"

"No, it was like somebody was talking to me."

"Do you mean there was someone with you?"

"No, no, that's not what I mean. It was a voice. but I wasn't saying anything."

"Wait I'm a little lost, you had no control over this voice, is that what you mean?!"

"It was like thinking, but the thoughts weren't mine. They were said like…- You know what, forget I brought it up." Chloe turned around but Stacie grabbed her arm. She flinched.

"Wait! No, you need to tell me, what's going on?!"

"There was a voice inside my head!" She sounded upset. Tears pooled in her eyes from being angry. With the voice. And with herself.

They were silent for a minute. Stacie's face was frozen as she was lost in thoughts about what she had just said. Her mouth had the shape of a small o.

"What did they say?" she stammered.

"There was a familiar voice saying or screaming things to me. It didn't make any sense what they were saying. It messed with my head. They said something about an animal sacrifice, it was terrifying. Sometimes they were whispering, sometimes screaming." Chloe shivered again when thinking about it.

"What?! Have you told anyone else about this?"

"No and you have to promise me not to tell anyone."

"But-"

"Promise me Stacie!"

"Okay." Finally she made eye contact again.

"What?"

"Okay, I promise."

"Thank you."

"But you have to tell me everything. This sounds really bad, we need to get you help, like professional help."

"We won't have to, it was a one time thing."

"It isn't healthy Chlo." Suddenly something clicked inside her. Everything made sense. "This is about what happened at the Trebles, isn't it?! Something did happen!"

"No, that's not it!" Liar. "We've been in a plane crash! I've seen people dying! I've lost 4 close friends in 48 hours!"

Stacie's eyes went wide.

"I'm sorry Stacie, I know you're upset as well. I just don't know if I can handle this."

"Don't worry. It's really difficult I know, but we just have to bare through it, and stick together."

Chloe nodded and hugged Stacie tight.

"Thank you for listening to me."

"Promise me you'll tell me when it's happening again?"

Chloe hesitated. "Only if you promise not to tell."

"I promise."

* * *

Another twenty minutes of panting and trying to catch their breath with this humid air passed, before they went walking again. Aubrey leaded the group, picking a random and fairly straight path through the thick bushes and dense grasses. Chloe followed her, supported by Beca, her own arm wrapped over Beca's shoulders as Beca put her hand on her hip, keeping her up. On the same way Amy helped Stacie walking, as her back was still sore, but the medicines had kicked in, somewhat inhibiting the infection. It was already getting dark. The sun was slowly setting and spreading a warm orange glow through the trees.

"I think we should just camp here, we'll not find anything today." Aubrey said, placing her hands on her thighs, trying to take a quick brake.

"I'm so thirsty." Amy complained. Their heads turned when Ashley spoke.

"Guys, I think I found something."

* * *

_A/N BOOM! What did they find? What do you think of Chloe telling Stacie about what happened and above all, what do you think of Chloe lying about what happened at the Trebles camp? I got a few reviews asking me what will happen now the action is over. Well, we'll take it slow for a little while before things get heated again, so don't think it's over! Thanks for all the support and reviews!_

_~Blue_


	19. Chapter 19: The Cave (Song for Someone)

_A/N Damn! This chapter is long! I didn't feel like leaving parts out because that would ruin the atmosphere. Please enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 19: _The Cave (Song for Someone)_

"Guys check this out!"

Ashley stood in front of a massive rock. A narrow split, approximately 3 feet wide, carved a gap in the stone. She shoved herself through the gap, entering the massive rock. The other Bellas followed her. When passing the walls, they found themselves in an enormous cave. There appeared to be no other entrance to the cave, except for the crack they had just passed. Though, sunlight beamed through the small splits in the ceiling, about 60 feet above them, leaving the stone stunningly lighted. The walls of the cave were covered with soft moss and small plants, painting some of the grey surface green like a field of grass. The floor they were walking on was made of the same, wet stone as the walls, with some small grasses and mosses. At the very top of the cave, dozens of small, black birds flew from one side to the other while chattering and making music. How longer they looked, the more seemed to appear from light coloured nests on the rocks, flying in and out of the cracks through which the cave was illuminated with the light of the setting sun. Chloe however, didn't look at the birds, she looked at the tiny brunette standing next to her.

_You've got a face not spoiled by beauty_

_I have some scars from where I've been_

_You've got eyes that can see right through me_

_You're not afraid of anything they've seen_

Except for the twittering birds, they heard also a rushing noise. A creek of water ran through the middle of the cavern, splitting it in almost two even parts. The steam was about 18 feet wide and a current moved the water to the other side of the cave.

Ashley was the first of the girls who rushed to the water. They hadn't drunk since yesterday, so when they saw the water, they ran towards it like a puma to its prey.

"It's sweet and clear!" Ashley screamed to them, gulping the water from the bowl she made from her hands. The other Bellas joined her, sitting on the side of the current, drinking the cold, clear water.

"This tastes so good!"

"It's so cold and refreshing!"

Beca believed that this water was the tastiest water she had ever drunk. She splashed some of it in her face and her neck. This water felt so good.

_I was told that I would feel_

_Nothing the first time_

_I don't know how these cuts heal_

_But in you I found a right_

* * *

After drinking Stacie walked against the current, upwards to another part of the cave. She screamed in excitement when was able to see what laid on top of the hill. It was a deep lake, maybe 60 feet wide. The ceiling with even more birds reached higher than it did where they entered the cave, about 100 feet. There was a massive stone wall on the edge of the lake, around 30 feet high, which was the beginning of a waterfall which poured into the lake with deafening sound.

Before the other Bellas had gathered at the lake, Stacie had gotten off her pants and shirt, leaving her in her bra and matching panties. She ran into the water, until the moment when the water reached her hips, and then dove forwards, disappearing shortly, before standing up again. The cool water soothed and cleansed the wounds on her back and it felt great.

"Swimming break!" she yelled.

She leaned backwards and ran her hands through her wet hair and over her arms, cleaning herself as good as she possibly could.

"Is this a good idea?" Aubrey asked concerned.

"Are you kidding?" Amy cheered happily, pulling off her pants. "I'm the best swimmer in Tasmania with four limbs!"

That didn't make any sense. Beca stood there on the edge of the lake, the water straddling her feet, doubting what she should do. But when she saw Ashley, Amy and Lilly taking off their clothes, cheering loudly, she did as well, leaving her in her black underwear.

"Let's go!"

_If there is a light_

_You can always see_

_And there is a world_

_We can always be_

_If there is a dark_

_That we shouldn't doubt_

_And there is a light_

_Don't let it go out_

Stacie ran out of the water towards her before taking Beca's hands in hers. Beca smiled, happy to see the brunette so excited after all she had been through. They ran into the water together, still holding hands. The water got too deep for them to stand pretty quickly, so they swam together, staying very close to each other. They enjoyed the cold water and splashed water at the other.

"The kraken has been unleashed!" Amy yelled.

Amy had climbed up towards the top of the waterfall and stood on the edge of the rocks. With a loud yell, she jumped down and crashed into the deep water. When she rose above the surface again, she laughed and high-fived Ashley.

"I told you I could do it!"

Soon, Amy went a second time, and she had dragged Ashley with her. Lilly looked at the group of women standing on top of the waterfall.

"Go, you dork!" Beca smirked, pushing Lilly slightly towards the waterfall. Stacie wanted to go to the deep part to watch the girls jump as she couldn't join them because of her injuries. Stacie smiled, but then looked at Aubrey, who sat on a rock on the edge of the lake. The captain looked at the playing girls and she smiled vaguely. Chloe hadn't joined them either, which was strange because skinny dipping was such a Chloe-ish thing to do. She was standing on the edge of the lake, where some of the rocks had crumbled to smaller ones by the water splashing over them.

"I'll go check on her," Beca assured her, "now go!"

_And this is a song_

_A song for someone_

_This is a song_

_A song for someone_

* * *

Stacie swam towards the waterfall, as Beca got out of the lake towards Chloe. The ginger looked at the lake and the waterfall, avoiding her gaze.

"Hey Chloe, what's up? Why aren't you joining us?"

"I don't feel like it."

Beca rose an eyebrow.

"And why is that?"

"Do you remember the day before yesterday?"

Beca frowned. That was the evening their plane had crashed. The day Cynthia Rose died, together with Denise and Jessica. The day countless other people had died in the plane crash. The day Aubrey had died and had been brought back.

"Do you remember us crying and grieving? Do you remember us panicking and flinching in pain?"

Beca simply nodded.

"It was just two days ago." Chloe's voice cracked. "Now we're here, swimming, playing. It's just like none of that ever happened…"

"We haven't forgotten what happened, Chloe." Two pairs of eyes locked. "We are just trying to ease the pain for ourselves and for the other Bella's. And we're doing that by having fun, well, as far as that is possible."

A tear rolled over Chloe's cheek.

"It's easier this way."

Chloe nodded. Beca stepped closer and brushed away her tears, smiling faintly, looking in her eyes. Her hands rested on her cheeks, brushing the soft skin with her thumbs.

"You are right." Chloe admitted.

"Of course I'm right." Beca smirked. "Now, let's swim together, shall we?"

"I-I can't." Chloe said. She wanted to take a dive so badly, to get rid of all the guys' traces on her body, but she knew she couldn't without being exposed. She hadn't checked because she hadn't seen herself undressed yet, but she figured her body and her tights would probably be bruised, just like her wrists. She could cover those with her sleeves, but undressing meant that she would show the bruises and dried blood to the girls. They would ask questions and it would be so hard to hide what happened. So that's why she didn't go for a swim, but she wasn't telling Beca, of course, the real reason.

"I need to be alone right now. Just for a minute, I'll join you guys later." Which was also a lie. When she thought of it, Chloe was surprised how easy it had become to lie to her friends like that. Chloe, before the events, was a person who'd never lie. She was the one who was convinced that telling the truth always led to the right path.

It wasn't even that she was doing it because she was ashamed or embarrassed. She was scared of what they might do. She knew that if she told the truth about what happened the moment Beca and Aubrey found her, they hadn't gone back to Stacie. They would go to the Trebles camp and they would pick a fight, but the guys had guns. But she knew that wasn't stopping the girls once they knew. She had been lying to them to protect them. To protect their lives, not the guys'.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

_You let me into a conversation_

_A conversation only we could make_

_You're breaking into my imagination_

_Whatever's in there is yours to take_

* * *

Beca walked towards the rock where Aubrey was sitting. She was slightly embarrassed that she was in her underwear as Aubrey was still fully dressed. She didn't mind with Chloe, as she had seen her naked once before, she had nothing left to hide for her. But she was, let's say, uncomfortable being in this state of undress around the older girl. It was however impossible to get in her skinny jeans, while she was still wet, so she just sat next to Aubrey in her panties. Aubrey looked up.

"What's up Bree? Why are you not swimming with us?"

Aubrey blushed, looking at her feet in embarrassment.

"I can't swim."

"Seriously?"

There was a brief silence, before Beca grabbed Aubrey's hand, pulling her towards the lake.

"What are you doing?"

"We are going for a swim!" Beca said with goofy smile.

"What part of the "I can't swim" didn't you get?"

"Don't worry, we'll go somewhere where you can stand." She added when she saw Aubrey's look. "Now strip."

Aubrey stood there dumbfounded looking at the dominating brunette. She took off her shirt and her pants. She covered herself with her arms. She felt embarrassed and exposed. Her arm, however, was grabbed by the brunette who pulled her into the water. First, she resisted a little, but when she noticed how good the cold water felt to her legs and the warmth of Beca's hand on her arm, she followed her. They walked into the lake until the water level reached Aubrey's hips.

"Okay, we'll start here." The brunette said while turning around, facing Aubrey. Aubrey slipped over a slippery stone, but was caught by the brunette somewhat lower in front of her. Their faces were mere inches apart from each other. Beca had used her other hand to grab Aubrey's free hand when she slipped to support her. They stood like this for a moment until Aubrey could balance herself again. Even then Aubrey took a moment before moving her face and speaking up.

"What are we starting?"

"Your swimming course, of course!"

"No, no, no, Beca that is a really bad idea! I can't swim!"

"That's why it's called a swimming course, silly. Now, go lay on your back and float, I think that's a good start."

"No, no! I'll drown instantly!" Aubrey's eyes showed panic.

"Aubrey," Beca grabbed Aubrey's hands, looking into her eyes. "Do you trust me?"

Aubrey doubted for a second, but then said:

"I do."

"Okay. Now, go lay on your back and I'll help you float. I promise that nothing will happen to you."

Aubrey took a deep breath before lifting her feet of the rock beneath her. As she did, she writhed and she prepared herself to sink to the bottom, but then she felt two strong arms grabbing her under her back, lifting her up. She felt like flying. Like her body was made out of air and floated through the sky.

_I was told I'd feel_

_Nothing the first time_

_You were slow to heal_

_But this could be the night_

"You are now allowed to breathe, you know?" Beca said, hovering above her, still holding her.

Aubrey released a breath she didn't knew she was holding.

"Now relax."

Aubrey tried to relax. She calmed her breathing and loosened her muscles. Before she knew it, Beca had removed her hands below her back, and she was still floating. She smiled and looked at Beca, who was also smiling.

"See, that isn't that hard, is it?"

"What are you guys up to?" Aubrey recognized Stacie's voice. With Beca's help she got up again.

"I'm teaching her how to swim." Beca said. "She's doing pretty good!"

"Good for you!" Stacie said, smiling to Aubrey.

"Do you mind if I borrow her for now, I want to dry and get dressed." Stacie said to Beca.

"Go ahead, class is dismissed." Beca winked.

She watched as Stacie and Aubrey walked out of the lake after Stacie had grabbed Aubrey's hand. They sat down on the same rock Aubrey had come from, and they laid down on their backs, facing each other. She noticed that Stacie refused to release Aubrey's hand, as they laid down.

"_If there is a light_

_You can always see_

_And there is a world_

_We can always be" _Stacie sang.

"_If there is a dark_

_Within and without_

_And there is a light_

_Don't let it go out"_

* * *

Beca walked up to Chloe from behind. She wrapped her arms around her. She felt her tense in her embrace but kept holding her. Chloe turned around but didn't fight out of her embrace. She buried her face in the crook of Beca's neck and sighed deeply.

"I love you, you know that right?" Beca said softly to her.

"Yes, I know."

"Whatever is wrong, you can tell me, okay?"

"Okay."

Beca started singing for the girl in her arms.

"_And I'm a long way_

_From your hill on Calvary_

_And I'm a long way_

_From where I was, where I need to be_

_If there is a light_

_You can always see_

_And there is a world_

_We can always be_

_If there is a kiss_

_I stole from your mouth_

_And there is a light,_

_Don't let it go out"_

* * *

_A/N AAND CUT! All the feels in this chapter, damnit. Please review and let me know what you think. Make sure you'll check out my tumblr soon, because I've got lots of drawing and photoshopping ideas for this scene, so I might post them if I made something. The link is on my profile description as I can't paste links here. Song I used is Song for Someone by U2!_

_Have a nice day!_

_~Blue_


	20. Chapter 20: Little Flame

_A/N: 'Sup guys! It has been way too long! I didn't want to rush it, because I want to be a 100 percent happy with the things I upload. I'll try to upload sooner, but I won't post something until I'm content with the chapter._

* * *

Chapter 20: _Little_ _Flame_

"Hurry up!"

"I can't get that stupid thing on!"

After the night fell while they washed their clothes, the Bellas decided it was time to get some sleep. But before they could rest, a fire had to be made. But after they put a bunch of twigs on a pile, they couldn't make the fire as the spark didn't catch the twigs.

"Guys, let's just sleep without a fire." Beca sighed. "We'll get it working first thing tomorrow, but it's so late already."

"No way I'm sleeping without some light, look how dark it is!" Aubrey disagreed. And it was true. They could barely see each other while standing a few feet apart. It would be unsafe to sleep without a fire who knew what could happen.

"Okay, let me try something." Stacie grabbed the zippo. "I once saw a survival program on the Discovery."

"You watch Discovery?" Aubrey grinned.

"Hey, just because my life is more exciting than yours, doesn't mean I don't have time to watch TV." she snapped.

A silence on both sides followed.

"Aca-awkward." Amy whispered.

"Anyways," Stacie tried to ignore what just happened, "you have to make like a tipi-like formation of the sticks and have to make a bed of burning materials in the center. I need a sharp stone."

She grabbed a few twigs and put them together in a triangle formation, like a tipi. She was handed a sharp stone from Ashley and she started scraping thin strips of wood from a thick branch. Beca helped her as she put the strips in a formation like a bird's nest, like Stacie told her to.

Suddenly, Stacie screamed as she jumped up and dropped the stone on the ground. She cursed loudly, grabbing her hand.

"What happened?" Aubrey asked before anyone else could and she ran over to her. "Let me see."

It was hard to see what exactly had happened, but Stacie had cut her hand with the stone as the branch was getting thinner so more difficult to hold. It wasn't very deep, but blood was still gushing out of the cut. Without further thinking, Aubrey ripped off a strand of her shirt and wrapped it tightly around her hand to stop the bleeding. Stacie started to cry.

"I'll talk to her, keep trying, you know what to do." Aubrey said to the others as she slightly pulled on Stacie's arm.

Ashley took over and Stacie and Aubrey walked away. When they were far away from the group, Aubrey faced her.

"What's going on?"

"I'm sorry…"

"What are you talking about?"

Stacie flew into her arms and cried.

"I-I'm so sorry." she sobbed.

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm s-sorry that I yelled at you."

Aubrey raised her eyebrows.

"Please, don't leave me. I'm sorry."

"Hey, Stacie look at me." Stacie obeyed. "I'm not mad at you." She tried to smile.

"It's just stress combined with everything that happened, and sometimes that's wearing off, I get that."

Stacie smiled through her tears. "Thank you."

Aubrey smiled to the brunette in front of her as she wiped her tears away. The girl was so scared and vulnerable. Seeing this different side of her, Aubrey began to wonder if there was a side of Stacie she didn't know of. About which no one had never known its existence of. A soft, smart side. A side that needed someone to talk to instead of someone to have sex with. A side that wanted to be loved, truly loved, instead of being used and being envied.

Her face was lighted by a sudden flash of yellow, which then turned orange and spread a warm glow through the darkness.

"It worked!" Amy yelped.

They both looked to the small fire they had started. Stacie wiped her tears away and walked to the fire and sat down, like the rest of them.

* * *

**Day 3**

"We have to divide the group into certain fractions. There are several jobs that need to be done today. We need a group of people who are gathering as much food as they can find and exploring the island."

The light was shining through the cracks in the ceiling again. It was some time in the morning the next day. The sky was covered by clouds and it looked like it was about to rain soon. But rain or no rain, the Bellas couldn't stay in all day without resources, so Beca had set up a plan overnight to get some things done the next day. She paced in a line in front of them, just like you always see in the military movies. It would have been funny if this was some kind of military comedy rip off, but it wasn't, so Amy didn't laugh. Everybody was dead serious. They needed a plan to survive. They had fresh water running next to their camp, but they needed to find food as well.

You never realize the importance of food before you're stuck somewhere without some and you're starving. Not the 'I-haven't-had-lunch' kind of starving, but the real kind of starving, in which case you haven't digested a single calorie in days.

"We have to have a group of people who take care of the Cave, which is now our home. Maybe we can make some supplies, like some sort of beds, maybe traps for hunting if that's possible. Just anything that could be useful."

At home when people got hungry, they opened their fridge and grabbed something. People would often be annoyed if it appeared that there was nothing to eat at home and they had to fetch something at the local store. But there was no local store here where you could buy a one dollar sandwich and a soft drink. It wasn't about _getting _food, it was about _finding_ it. And not finding food, meant nothing to eat, and if that happened too often, they would starve to death. Literally.

"The other groups have to promise not to get lost. So don't stray too far from the cave without knowing for sure which direction to go to. We can't stay here and wait, we have to look for resources, but we don't want to risk anything. Don't do anything stupid or dangerous.

All groups will return immediately to the camp at sunset and will have returned before nightfall. If you're not back one hour after nightfall, we'll know you're in trouble."

Amy never thought about starving to death. She hadn't ever been hungry like she had been here. She didn't only mocked herself about her ways at home, she was a little disgusted by them as well. How could she think that her life depended on getting a smoothie at 4pm. Things would never be the same again for her. She made a vow to herself: she would never eat something without thought anymore. She would take a bite, chew it and perceive its texture and its taste, like she had done with the mango. No food was to be spilled by her anymore.

"So about the groups, I don't want anyone to travel on their own, so there will be two pairs of hunters and three crafters stay here. So who wants to do what?"

"My parents own a little furniture store." Ashley said. "I'll take charge over the crafting."

Lilly and Amy volunteered to stay with her. Stacie, Aubrey, Beca and Chloe were to go hunting the first day of them being in the cave. Aubrey glanced over to Stacie as soon the group of four had to decide how to split up. Her eyes met hers and they looked excited, daring almost.

"I'll go with Aubrey." she said as she winked at her. Aubrey pretended that she hadn't looked and hadn't noticed it.

"Great, I'll go with Beca." Chloe said. The girls stood up and hugged the girls from the other groups briefly.

"Please be careful." Beca said to Stacie as she wrapped her arms around her. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Stacie chuckled and nodded as she turned to Chloe and hugged her. "Keep it in your pants for the tiny one, would you?" she whispered.

"What are you talking about?" But Stacie had already turned to Ashley. Chloe hugged Aubrey. "Take care, Bree." Aubrey smiled when she called her Bree. Chloe was the only one who did, and she had missed it. "Please get home safely."

"See you soon, Little Flame." She hadn't called Chloe like that in a while as they were always busy and almost never had time for their goofy hang outs like they used to. Not only had Aubrey chosen the nickname for her hair colour (although she had in the beginning), but soon she had found out that Chloe actually was a Little Flame. She was this tiny package of joy and warmth to everyone who embraced her and she spread her love to anyone who needed it. She realized that she was so blessed to have her dorky best friend next to her while they were here.

The four of them walked over to the gap in the rocks when Beca nudged her shoulder against Chloe's. "Little Flame?"

"Shut up." she grinned.

* * *

_A/N: Aww, so cute. Anyways, let me know what you think! I think it's only fair to say that I'll upload the next one when I'm ready. Stay cool!_

_~Blue_


	21. Chapter 21:I Hate It When You See Me Cry

_A/N: Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 21:_ _I Hate It When You See Me Cry_ _

"And that's why I've never been in a relationship."

Stacie chuckled.

"I never thought that actually _counted_ as a reason."

"Oh, shut up." Aubrey nudged her shoulder. "What about your love life?"

"No, we're not going there." She said. "Where are we going? Are we going through here?" She reached over to shove the leaves of the bushes away.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT." Aubrey grabbed her wrist before she did.

"What?"

Aubrey pointed at the thorns on the branches.

"Don't touch that, use a stick if you need to shove plants."

Stacie walked around the bush.

"Geez, I didn't see that."

They walked for a few minutes in silence, looking up to the trees to look for any fruits.

"You didn't answer my question, though." Aubrey said, still looking up.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, now she's being shy!"

"Seriously, zip it!" she laughed.

Aubrey tripped over some roots and landed with her hands in the mud on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Stacie helped her up.

"I'm fine."

"Karma's a bitch." she joked.

Aubrey tried to rub the mud off her hands by rubbing them against the bark of the tree which roots she fell over.

"I find it oddly amusing that it's such a sensitive subject for you." she glanced daring at her.

"Okay, you know what? Fine, I'll tell you."

"Finally! Tell me about how many boyfriends you had."

"No, it's not that, I just…"

"Just what?"

"I have never been in a relationship."

"What?!" Aubrey's eyes were wide.

"It is true!"

"You are totally bullshitting me!"

Stacie shook her head.

"But how?! What about that guy you hooked up with, like, a week ago?"

Stacie remembered the small blonde guy.

"Mike? No, not Mike. What was his name again?" Stacie shrugged and then continued. "He wasn't anything serious. We both were looking for some fun and that was it."

"What?! And what about the guy who picked you up after rehearsals a few weeks ago?"

"No, God, please no, Avery got behind on maths and I'm helping him out."

"Math, seriously?"

"Yeah! It's not that weird!"

Aubrey looked at her unbelievingly.

"And we may or may not have had the occasional hook ups afterwards, but that doesn't mean-"

"You are the worst!" Aubrey cried out but laughed afterwards.

They looked again for a while.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Aren't you already?"

"I'm serious."

"Fine, ask me anything."

"Did you… and Cynthia…?"

Stacie stopped walking and looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's okay." Stacie took a deep breath. "Cynthia and I have, wait, had a very special relationship. I know she liked me. And she knew that I didn't like her that way. But instead of making things difficult for the both of us, she decided to keep her feelings for herself and to be the best friend I could ever wish for. She was always there for me. She helped me through a lot of tough times, she was there to pick me up after a party when I felt terrible, she was there when I called her in the middle of the night when I felt down. She stood up for me when people called me a whore or bullied me for having so many affairs."

She buried her face in her hands. Aubrey wanted to say something, but Stacie asked her to let her finish first.

"I only take people home when I feel lonely and left out and having sex makes me feel wanted and loved again. She was the one who made me realize that there were people I could talk to so I wouldn't feel alone again."

"She always took care of me. She knew I couldn't ever be for her what she wanted me to be and that was okay with her. She never pushed me or anything, or took advantage of me, she just was there for me."

"Stacie, I didn't know you had to feel this way." Aubrey hugged her. She seemed so small.

"And now she's gone." she cried. "And I'm never going to be able to repay her for what she did for me."

They talked about her. They talked about Stacie. They talked about the life they had and the lives they could have had before they stood up and continued searching. Aubrey didn't dare to ask anymore questions. There was this awkward atmosphere she couldn't put her finger on.

"What's that?"

It looked like a concrete wall, overgrown with mosses and a tall fallen tree that blocked what it seemed the wooden door. The small building was well hidden, and it was unnoticeable if they hadn't almost bumped into it. The building was so small that there was barely room in the building for one person standing straight. They both wondered what it could be and what would be inside.

"Let's check it out!" Stacie spurred towards the door and tried to move the tree from the entrance so they could enter.

"I don't think…"

"You should stop thinking and start helping me."

Aubrey and Stacie tugged and pulled at the fallen tree and tried to shove it away from the door. As they finally had removed the tree, they saw that the wooden door was marked with a large red cross which marked the whole surface.

"A red cross marks the treasure doesn't it?"

"I have a really bad feeling about this."

"I can go alone, you stay here and guard the entrance."

"No! I'm not letting you go alone!" Aubrey protested.

"Then you're coming with me!"

Stacie pulled the door open. A light green snake darted out the crack of the door as she opened it and disappeared into the wild. They stared into the ground, in a large, black hole. The little room was nothing more than a staircase that lead to something underground. Three steps of the staircase where illuminated by the daylight, the others were pitch black as the room they lead to.

"We're so not going in there without a light source."

"But I want to know what's down there!"

"Stacie, you'd probably fall down and break all the bones in your body."

"But-"

"We'll come back tomorrow and bring some light with us."

Stacie sighed. "Fine."

* * *

A few miles further...

* * *

Beca touched her forehead where the wound was healing.

"You look like Harry Potter when you do that." Chloe giggled.

"You gotta be kidding me, you are such a dork!"

"Seriously though, don't touch it, you might get some bacteria from your hands in your wound."

"Ay, chief." she winked. "Hey, I'm gonna go there and take a leak, be right back."

"I've seen you naked before you know!" she yelled at her while she walked away.

"Don't look Beale!"

"Fine!" she turned around as she grinned. Her grin soon disappeared when she realized she was basically alone again. She looked around her, but there was no sign of Beca. The world became dark as if suddenly the night had fallen or as if somebody had put out the lights. A strong wind arose and played with her hair. She heard a ringing sound in her ears, which caused her head to start pounding. Her heart was in her head and her brains were beating the same way as her heart did.

"_Chloe…"_

She turned around.

"Who's there!"

_Thud_, _thud_, the beating her head answered. She rubbed her temples, trying to understand what was happening.

"_It's your fault she doesn't love me!"_ she heard Jesse's voice shouting in her ear. She screamed and anxiously turned around again, but she didn't see anything. The world became pitch black. She couldn't see a thing. The rushing of the trees was drowned out by whispers. They were everywhere. Everywhere around her, inside her, in her nose and in her mouth, in her arms and in her fingertips. She couldn't make out what they said, but they were whispering to her. Their voices became more violent as the world turned even darker than it was before if that was even possible. The world became more distant and emptier as if she was removed from the earth and lived inside the dark place inside her head.

"_IF YOU SCREAM AGAIN I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME?!"_

Chloe cried out in fear and pain as she tumbled on the ground. She felt how two strong arms around her tried to stop her from struggling, but in the darkness she couldn't see who it was. It had to be Jesse. Jesse was here to hurt her again. He probably killed Beca as well.

She struggled to break free, but her arms were being held against her torso so she couldn't hit or punch her offender.

"Let me go!" she cried.

"Chloe! Chloe, wake up!" That voice sounded so familiar. "Chloe please wake up, it's me!"

And she did want to wake up. She tried to get rid of the black fog before her eyes and to shut out the whispers who were still laughing at her.

"Chloe!"

Chloe opened her eyes and saw through her tears the small brunette holding her with all her strength to stop her from hurting her or herself.

"Beca?"

They were sitting on the ground. Beca sat on her knees and she held Chloe tight on her lap. She buried her face in the fabric of her shirt as she sobbed uncontrollably. Beca held her and pressed Chloe's head against hers, thinking that she wouldn't ever let her go again.

"What the hell happened Chloe?"

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for reading and letting me know what you think! See you in the next one! :D _

_~Blue_


	22. Chapter 22: Baku-san, Come Eat My Dream

_A/N: I don't know about you! But I'm feeling 22! Everything will be alright-oh too early for Taylor Swift? Okay, never mind then._

* * *

Chapter 22: _Baku-san, come eat my dream_

Aubrey and Stacie didn't return to the small cabin with the staircase next day. It wasn't that they didn't want to. They weren't able to find it. It was like the small cabin had disappeared from the earth for as long as they were looking for it. Stacie had convinced the others that they had to bring the zippo so they could make a torch in case they found the cabin again. But as long as they carried the zippo with them, it appeared the cabin was nowhere to be found.

Stacie and Aubrey grew closer together. They bonded in a way they never expected to. The first thing they noticed when they became friends, is that they were nothing alike. That's what made the other person so interesting. Aubrey didn't dare to bring up the sensitive Cynthia subject again as she was afraid to hurt her. Stacie, at the other hand, didn't talk about Cynthia as well. The other girls who had died, weren't discussed either. They both were hurt by their loss and decided for themselves that they wouldn't bring it up to avoid hurting the other.

This resulted in normal conversations. So normal, it was weird in this situation. They didn't talk about the crash. They didn't talk about the casualties. Not about being found, not about the abuse they suffered from the Trebles, not about being hungry. Instead, they talked about the casual things, school, the Bellas, their family and their hobbies. Talking about such normal things often resulted in goofing or messing around, and they joked like nothing had happened to them. It was strange, actually, when they thought about it.

Stacie didn't know that Aubrey actually wanted to talk about what happened. It was Stacie who had suffered the most with the loss of her best friend, but Aubrey had lost people too. The nightmares, like the one she had the first night on the island, had continued to keep haunting her, waking her up several times every night. She fell asleep again afterwards as she was exhausted from searching and walking in the woods the whole day. She had another nightmare when she fell asleep again and that's how the night continued until she decided to get up when the light came through the rocks and turned the creek in the cave silver.

"What happens when you die?" she had asked Stacie when they were walking in the forest again. It had been a warm afternoon, and the sky was as blue as faded polish on her nails.

"What do you mean?"

"What happens when you blow out your final breath?"

Stacie thought for a moment.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry."

"Hey," she stood in front of her. "Look at me. What's going on?"

"Nothing, I just wondered."

Stacie looked at her.

"Look I drowned the first day. I was basically dead for a few minutes before I was brought back and there nothing happened after I drowned." she continued. "I remember losing consciousness and after that there was… nothing…"

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"What if there's nothing after you die, Stacie? Imagine you dying and the world just keeps turning without you and you won't be there to experience it? No afterlife, no Heaven or Hell, just nothing."

"Look, I can't talk about this."

"Doesn't that scare you? Mortality? The fact that this life will be over someday and that maybe there's no way to live again and-"

"Of course that scares me! What do you want me to say?"

"I'm sorry, Stacie."

After that day she decided not to bring it up again. Stacie obviously didn't want to talk about it, so she started thinking of answers on her own. She probably hadn't died long enough, or fully enough or something to experience the afterlife. Because there had to be an afterlife. She was sure of it. Where would all those people who died go to if there wasn't an afterlife?

Deciding what answers were correct and which weren't fed her new fear. Drowning had not only drowned her, it had confronted her with a fear she had never faced before. She became afraid of mortality. Not only of her own mortality, but it was the strongest, but also the mortality of the people she cared about. Chloe, for an instance. What would happen if she died? What would happen with herself, knowing that Chloe probably didn't experience an afterlife, but that her happy best friend just had _disappeared_. She was afraid of losing anymore people. Chloe, Stacie and even Beca.

She had grown close to Beca as well the past few days as the small girl insisted every night to practice swimming together. Aubrey smiled when the thought of her. She thought of how persistent she was and how she smiled when she improved her swimming a bit. She also remembered how her arms would wrap around her when she failed to stay above the water level and how she calmed her down when that happened for the first time. She would never admit it, but she actually cared a lot about the tiny brunette.

* * *

Beca and Chloe on the other hand who had been so close, grew a little farther apart. They hadn't discussed what happened to Chloe that specific day in the forest and every time Beca tried to bring it up, Chloe became upset and changed the subject. But she was doing better now, it seemed to Beca. She swam with the others at night after everything turned dark and she appeared to have given whatever had happened to her a place in her head.

Except Chloe herself knew that that day had only been the beginning. Knowing that her off behaviour had been noticed by the group, she tried to blend in to avoid anymore questions. She swam with them, she talked to them and she pretended to be asleep at night. But she hadn't slept in days. She just laid down and watched how the other girls slept as she waited for the sun to rise. She knew Aubrey woke up several times a night, panting and sweating. She sat up for a few minutes, sometimes fifteen to thirty minutes before she went to sleep again. Sometimes she had pretended to be awoken by her struggling in her sleep. She would sit next to her and hold her until she was asleep again, appeasing her just like a mother does to her child.

She had also seen how Beca one night shot up and looked around her as if she was confused and disorientated. Then, she started to cry. She cried her heart out, but she did it softly, so no one would hear. Chloe knew Beca never cried. This one time she did, so she decided not to reveal herself, giving Beca the alone time and space she needed to cry. As Beca cried, minutes turned to hours, before she fell asleep again, exhausted.

As everything seemed normal to the others, they didn't ask Chloe anymore questions. But Chloe knew her mental health was falling apart. She had read about this. The voices in her head had disappeared after the incident, but had returned a day later. First, it was very short and very soft voices, which were unintelligible and almost inaudible. The voices sometimes were louder or longer present and then faded again. She tried to ignore it as she hadn't been bothered like she had been during the incident. It would pass.

They had lived for a couple days on the fruits they could find. But on one day, the two groups of girls carried spears with them during the searching. The spears had been made by the cave group and were sharpened branches about 5 feet and the sharp points were hardened by holding them in the fire. It had to serve as a last resort when being attacked. They were surprised when that same spear helped them to caught their first meat although not planned.

It had been somewhat after the sun began to set and Chloe and Beca were making their way back to the cave. They had found a hand full of fruits, but not plenty enough to have dinner from, so they hoped Aubrey and Stacie would have found something. It had to be about a 20 minute walk back to the camp and they were tired. They were walking slower than they used to this morning.

"You know, I thought of a game to keep us busy." Chloe said.

"Okay Beale, shoot."

"It's like a riff off but instead of me beating your ass we help each other to create a super awesome mash up about one theme."

"So you're saying?" Beca chuckled. It was so Chloe to think of something like this.

"We pick a theme and I start singing a song and you back me up. After a few bars, you think of another song to mix it with and we sing that song, but it has to be about the theme. It's just like making mixes!"

When Beca thought of it, she missed mixing. She put so much time and effort into her tracks, it was the main outlet for her thoughts and feelings.

"Fine, let's do it!"

Chloe smiled. "Great what's our theme."

Beca hesitated and thought for a moment. She looked around her. "Nature."

"_So I watched the leaves fall_

_All of the way to the ground_

_And I knew that that was what love was_

_To die so that it could be found" _Beca sang the song by Ben Rector. This was one of the songs she had found once once on Chloe's iPod. Chloe hummed the piano chords in tune with the lyrics.

"_They say look what you did to me_

_Look what you did to me_

_Look what you did to me autumn_

_I'm a leaf that's gone falling free_

_Beneath oh the maple trees_

_In front of this house to the bottom"_

Chloe started with the next song. She knew Damien Rice had a special place in Beca's heart by all the cd's she had from the singer.

"_What I want from you is empty your head_

_They say be true, don't stain your bed_

_We do what we need to be free_

_And it leans on me like a rootless tree_

_What I want from us is empty our minds_

_We fake the thoughts, and fracture the times_

_We go blind when we've needed to see_

_And this leans on me, like a rootless…"_

Beca jumped towards her and made a zipping move with her hand to Chloe's mouth as she continued with Florence and the Machine. When Chloe recognized the song she clapped her hands and stamped her feet to the beat.

"_She can't see the landscape anymore_

_It's all painted in her grief_

_All of her history etched out at her feet_

_Now all of the landscape, it's just an empty place_

_Acres of longing, mountains of tenderness"_

"_Oh let the river in,_

_Burst the dams and start again._

_Oh let the river in,_

_The will of men can't hold it in._

_Oh let the river in,_

_As the blood beneath my skin._

_Let the river in,_

_Nature plays, nature wins."_ Chloe continued with a song by Dotan, somewhat faster than the original to match the previous song.

"_Yeah winter's gone _

_Spring has come _

_Love is here can't you see _

_Like the autumn leaves _

_Bring me to the spring _

_Show me how to love someone" _They harmonised the last lines of the first song together and smiled when they finished.

"That wasn't so bad!" Beca grinned.

"Dude, we were aca-awesome!" Chloe smiled. "We should do something like that in the finals."

Beca hadn't thought of finals at all recently but right as she wanted to agree, she heard something.

"What's that?" she whispered as she ducked into the bushes. Chloe joined her and looked around them.

"I don't know, it's coming from there."

Beca held her spear in front of her as she moved cautiously towards the source. They glimpsed through the branches as they saw what looked like a small pig. The animal was brown and had white stripes and spotted coat on its back. It would have looked like a pig if it weren't for the proboscis on his head. Somewhat further from the cub, there was a massive animal, about 6 feet long and 3 feet high, fully black with white-tipped ears. It appeared to be the mother by its appearance.  
"Tapirs!" Chloe whispered as she grabbed Beca's arm. "Watch out, when they feel threatened, they might attack."

The female turned around from where the sound must have come fro. Chloe hadn't realized that tapirs have exceptional hearing. Beca put her hand over Chloe's mouth to stop her from talking. The female came closer until it was standing right in front of the bush they were hidden. The girls tried not to make a sound as the tapir was trying to locate the sound again. They looked directly at the animal, but she didn't seem to spot them. She was still chewing on some grass. She squinted her eyes a little, then blinked. She didn't move. She tilted her head a little to the right as she kept chewing on the bit of grass. Beca firmed the grip on her spear as the animal could attack them any second now.

They didn't pay attention to the little tapir behind her, but the mother did. When it let out a high pitched squeal and decided to move from this place, the mother turned around and decided to follow her cub.

Right as she turned around, Beca jumped up as if her predatory instincts told her and pushed the spear into her neck. Dark blood splatted out and painted the grass red. The female grunted as she fell down with a loud thud. The cub made another squealing noise before it spurred away into the jungle.

"Beca what did you do?!"

Beca pulled out her spear without answering and struck it again into her chest. The animal drew her last breath before her eyes turned lifeless and vacant. Beca tumbled backwards as she saw the tapir dying.

"What did I do?!"

She stared at the blood on her hands and tried to rub it off.

"WHAT DID I DO?!" she yelled.

Chloe, still shocked, hugged her and tried to calm her down as she cried. They both cried.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading! I have no musical talent, so I didn't actually make a mash up from the songs, but I put the used pieces into one track, so maybe that will help you imagine what it must sound like. _

_Listen on youtube dot com /watch?v=ruvDIB7Ft9k_

_You can also look up my youtube channel: aprilcblue_

_Cheers,_

_AprilChloeBlue_


	23. Chapter 23: Friends

_A/N: Yay! It's almost thanksgiving! We don't celebrate Thanksgiving or anything where I live but I figured a lot of my readers might, so this chapter is a bit of a Thanksgiving-special! It's not really relevant for the story, I thought it would be fun!_

_To answer the question from Blxckblood; I think you mean the ending of the chapter? The song I used there is 'Carmen' from Lara Del Ray. I hope this is what you were looking for!_

_If some of you have questions or anything don't hesitate to put them in the reviews or send me a message! :D_

* * *

Chapter 23: _Friends_

Beca emptied her cup again and tossed it aside. This night wasn't about her dad. This night wasn't about the few people she cared for looking down on her. She picked up a small glass with a strange, sweet liquid inside and downed it before putting it back on the table where she had gotten it from. This night wasn't about scumbag Jesse. She raised her hands as if she could feel the music in the thick air. It was a stupid party at one of the frat dorms. She really didn't want to go, but she was. So she would at least try to have some fun. Jesse had forced her to come along. It was strange actually; because of Jesse she had come to the party, but because of Chloe she actually had _wanted_ to go to the party.

She wanted to jump as the beat dropped, but her feet got entangled and she tumbled over.

"Calm down shorty!"

Beca looked at the girl who caught her from falling.

"Are you okay?" Stacie chuckled.

"Yeah" she grinned.

"Are you sure?"

"You look amazing today."

"You're definitely not okay."

"I'm fine!"

"I'm bringing you home."

Stupid. Stupidstupidstupidstupid. Stupid Jesse. And stupid Chloe. Jesse should leave her alone if he didn't only see her as a friend. She wanted to be his friend. Not really wanted, but they _could_ be friends. But he wanted her in a way she didn't want him. Beca had tried to tell him, but apparently he didn't get it.

"Becaw!" Stupid nickname. "You wanna have a drink at my place?"

"No." She had said, but she had giggled. Stupid giggles.

"Come on! You know you want to!"

"No, I really really really really need to find Chloe have you seen her?"

Jesse's smile had disappeared.

"Why won't you come home with me?"

"Just because! I need to find her!"

"Beca why is it always about Chloe when we fight? Just come home with me and-" he had grabbed Beca's arm.

"No, come on Jesse."

"Okay, we don't have to have a drink we can just watch a movie or something-"

"JESSE I SAID NO!"

She stormed away when she saw a flash of red hair somewhere. She lost it and didn't see Jesse anywhere, so she decided to dance. That's where Stacie had appeared in the story.

Beca grabbed Stacie's arm while walking so she wouldn't fall over.

"Just to remind you, you can't drink as much as I did." Stacie said as they left the party. They walked through the Barden Park, with on their sides fields of grass and leafless muffled beat was still audible through the trees.

"What's that supposed to mean? You think I'm a pussy?" she giggled.

"I'm just saying because you're shorter."

"Stop calling me short!" she nudged her shoulder against hers, but Stacie had too much to drink herself so she fell down on the wet grass. Beca, still holding her arm, was dragged along and fell on top of her.

Stacie cracked up laughing. "Happy now?"

Suddenly, the irrigation system sprinklers on the field went off, and they were soaked by the cold water. Stacie squealed when she felt the ice cold water, but Beca refused to get off her. They laid there, laughing, getting soaked by the irrigation water. Above them the stars were shining.

"Stacie?"

The surrounding leaves were scattered by a sudden breeze.

"Yeah?"

"Have I told you how beautiful you are?"

"Seriously, what-"

She was cut off by Beca's lips on hers. Her hands cupped her face gently as Stacie was still surprised by the sudden action. Beca was right on top of her, so there was nowhere she could go, so she gave in and kissed her back. And her mind was so clouded by alcohol that she didn't care about the consequences. The kiss was intense and of course wet from the water on them. Beca's wet brown locks straddled her neck as they fell down. She felt her ice cold fingers on her face as she cupped her hot cheeks. After a few minutes, she broke free from the girl on top of her.

"What are you doing?" she asked

"I need to feel something."

"What do you mean." Stacie tried to catch her breath as she stood up.

"Take me home with you." she commanded.

"Beca…"

"No strings attached, but please do this. For me."

Stacie offered her hand and helped Beca stand up. As Beca was on her feet again, she didn't let her hand go, but pulled her towards her so she tumbled into her arms as she looked at her. Stacie leaned in and kissed her again.

"Just friends."

"Just friends." Beca said still trying to recover her balance.

Stacie picked her up bridal style and carried her to her own dorm as she had a single. As she tried to think where her dorm was, her neck and jawline was being attacked by the girl she was carrying. She should have felt freezing cold as she was soaked, but she felt amazingly warm inside. This was so not a good idea. As she finally arrived at the door she put her down and fumbled with her keys.

"Beca, stop I'm trying to focus."

The lock clicked open and they basically fell inside. Stacie wrapped her arms around her upper parts of her legs, lifted her up and slammed her against the wall, not stopping kissing her. Her blocked blouse had already been tossed aside. Their pants soon followed in the same direction and left them in their underwear. Beca tossed Stacie on bed. The night wasn't over yet.

* * *

Beca shot up as she awoke, not in Stacie's bed, but in the cave. What a dream had that been. It hadn't been only a dream. It was a flashback. The strange thing was that the whole dream had actually happened. She and Stacie had hooked up after that party when they were drunk. When she had woken up, she had expected Stacie to have run away, but she was in the kitchen, making breakfast. Beca wouldn't call what happened a stupid mistake because she did have fun. They both had fun. They had had breakfast after she had woken up, her wearing a big sleeping shirt from Stacie. It hadn't been awkward or anything. After having breakfast, she had walked back to her own dorm, ignoring the strange glance Kimmy Jin had shot at her. She had felt… strange. She had felt somewhat guilty, but she didn't know towards whom. But she had also felt happy, something she hadn't felt in a long time. They hadn't spoken in days after it happened and Beca had felt kind of sad about that. But she was the one who had said they would only be together as friends. Stacie probably just had seen the opportunity to have a fun night. Beca had known that it didn't mean something to her, and it should not mean something to her. She had to move on. So the first time they spoke was 4 days after the night as they met on the airport on their way to the resort. They had shot lingering glances to each other as they went shopping on duty-free (something Beca was totally against doing).

"I'm going to the bathroom, I'll meet you guys later." Beca had said as she walked out the store. She had dragged Stacie along. In the ladies room, she had bursted out.

"Why the hell aren't you talking to me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Seriously?! You hook up with me and you just ignore me for the next 7 days?"

"Beca, what are you talking about it was a one night stand! Just friends remember?"

"'Just friends' is not ignoring me after! I thought you hated me for sleeping with you!"

"Beca, I could never hate you. Besides, you are amazing in bed, the way you work with your mouth is just-"

An old lady had stormed out one of the stalls with her eyes wide and her mouth narrow as a thin line. She had slammed the door after her and had walked out of the room without washing her hands, mumbling to herself.

"Okay, that was awkward." Beca had sighed. "It seems no one is here anymore so now we can talk. I don't want to make this any more complicated than it already is."

"Me neither. So let's decide to talk when we're home, okay? I don't have this figured out yet. But I don't want this to ruin our holiday, so please, let's just act like it didn't happen and talk about it when we're home."

Beca had sighed. "Okay."

* * *

This was the first time in almost two weeks now she slept with a full stomach which apparently affected her dreams. Chloe and her had tied the tapir to the spear as they carried it to the cave just as the cavemen did way back in time. _I wish I had a picture of the look on their faces_ Beca thought as she smiled weakly. At first, she hadn't been proud of what she did. She had taken another creature's life. She had killed something with her bare hands. She had been in a shock when she did it. She didn't even know _why_ she did it at all. Chloe and her had talked about it until the sun was setting. Knowing it would be a waste of material to leave it there, they decided they would take it back with them. They tried to skin the animal there, which appeared to be a lot more difficult than it sounded. One thing you don't realise when you see an animal is the massive amount of organs hidden under their thick layer of skin, which is almost impossible to cut with a stone. What should they do with the organs? They decided they wouldn't eat them as they could be harmful. Some of the organs were useful, like the bladder. They had tied a knot in the lowest part and they had discovered it could serve as a water container. Other organs, like the lungs, they buried somewhere far outside the cave, so they wouldn't attract other animals.

For cooking the meat, they had made a flat kind of fire, like a tower with a roof. On the roof, they had laid a large flat stone, which had been heated by the fire below it. On the stone, they had baked the meat on some of the fat they had collected from the body. It had been a lot like barbecuing, poking the meat until it looked nice and the cave was filled with the smell of food. It had tasted a lot like barbecue as well; raw on the inside and a bit burned on the outside. They had garnished the meat with bits of fruit and baked roots the others had found that day. They had put the dishes on palm leaves, just like every other day. They had been seated around the fire and because there was a lot of delicious food, everyone was in a cheerful mood. There had been jokes, funny stories and some singing. It was so nice everyone was having a good time for the first time in what seemed ages.

"Wait a second what day is it?" Aubrey had asked.

Amy had started counting.

"It's been 16 days. So that means it's a Friday."

"Friday 27th isn't it?" Aubrey had continued.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Thanksgiving was yesterday. We missed Thanksgiving."

Everyone had been silent for a while.

"Can you imagine your family celebrating Thanksgiving without you?" Stacie had asked.

"Will they even be celebrating? They think we're dead." Amy had asked in return.

"Let's not think about that, guys." Beca had said. "Let's celebrate it now. I want to celebrate it now." She had shifted from her sitting position so she was sitting on her knees and somewhat raised above the others. She had waited a minute for everything to get silent as she had grabbed the hand of the person next to her, Chloe and Stacie. Everyone had grabbed the hand of the person next to them, so they had formed a large circle. They had had their eyes shut.

"I'm grateful for us being alive and healthy." Beca had said. "We know that life at this point isn't a given certainty. Of course we have the right to mourn over the ones we lost. We have every right to be grieving and sad. But we should realize that we survived. We survived when they didn't. But they would have wanted us to continue and to fight for the life they left behind. They want us to live. Right now at this very moment. And that is a thought worth fighting for."

Stacie had shown a faint smile as Beca peeked at her between her eyelids.

"I want to remember the ones we lost." Stacie had said. "Without them I wouldn't be who I was. Their friendship shaped me to the person I am today. And I am grateful for that. I hope that wherever they are and whatever they're doing, they'll be smiling down upon us."

"Round the table, peace and joy prevail.

May all who share this season's delight

Enjoy countless more." Lily had said. She had explained it had been a Chinese blessing they usually said at Thanksgiving in her family.

"If I were at home," Chloe had said, "I would have thanked for everything I have; a nice car, a nice house, enough money to get by, a good education… But I don't have these things here. Here, I realized what's really important in my life. What's really important to say thank you for. And that's for you, guys. My car and my house can give me comfort, but they can't give me happiness and support me like you do. Yes, yes, you guys drive me crazy and I'm going to have a mental breakdown before the end of next period because of you. I will keep complaining about what kind of idiots you all are until I'm blue in the face. But at the same time I realized now you are the people who always got my back. I love you guys. Always."

Aubrey who had her right hand, squeezed it a little.

"Always."

* * *

_A/N I dropped the Steca bomb! Okay this became way fluffier than intended and for days I wasn't even sur if I were to upload this chapter, but I figu__red it would be nice for a change. Anyone down for some Steca by the way? This will probably not be Steca endgame but I can mess around a little right? Not only with Stacie and Beca but with everyone?_

_Happy Thanksgiving everyone wherever you are!_

_Cheers,_

_AprilChloeBlue_


	24. Chapter 24: Strangeness and Charm

Chapter 24: _Strangeness and Charm_

* * *

Aubrey and Stacie were laying on their backs on the soft grass. They had decided to take a short break before returning to the camp as they were both exhausted from the long day. They had taken their shoes off, so their tired feet could somehow recover a little from walking the whole day. The small open place was covered by a roof of leaves from the trees above them. They stared at the green and they looked at the small birds hopping between the branches. The small rays of sunlight were scattered through the narrow openings between the leaves and warmed their skin.

"I'm exhausted." Stacie sighed.

"Consider this as your cardio for today." Aubrey smiled.

"For today? Considering how much we exercised the past few weeks, I'm considering these weeks as cardio for the whole year."

"Don't be such a pussy."

"So THE Aubrey Posen actually knows how to swear."

"Hey, don't go there again." she nudged her shoulder.

"But seriously, how is it that you're never tired?"

"I have always been doing cardio for as long as I can remember."

Stacie rolled from her back to her side, scooting closer to Aubrey.

"Even when you were little?"

"God," Aubrey chuckled as she remembered, "I was super fit when I was young, my mom teached me how to balldance and I took part in many competitions."  
"Aubrey Posen the ballroom dancer… I can work with that!"

"Shut up! When I was about the age of 6 when I started dancing with my best friend from the same age who lived next door. We competed against so many duos but we won most of the times."

"When did you stop dancing?"

Aubrey thought for a moment.

"We kept dancing together until we turned 18. I went to Barden, he went to Seattle. I never really spoke to him again."

"You sound like you miss him."

"I do. I really do."

"You should go and visit him, when we get back."

"You used when."

"What?"

"You said 'when we get back'."

"You don't believe that?"

"I don't know what to think."

"Aubrey, look at me." Aubrey turned and laid on her side as well. "We're gonna get out of here. We cannot lose hope."

"We're in the middle of God knows where and you suspect that a rescue team can jump out of those bushes each second now? It's been 24 days, Stacie."

"But we will get out of this place. One way or another, we will."

Aubrey sighed. "Promise me. Promise me we will get out of this place."

"I'll do whatever I can to make it happen."

They looked at each other.

"What kind of ballroom dancing did you do when you were younger?"

"Spanish. We were really good."

"Show something to me." Stacie sat up and pointed to the open field in front of her. "Dance for me."

"No," Aubrey smiled, "I can't."

"Tell me one good reason not to dance right there, right now." Stacie raised her eyebrows daringly.

"You know what, fine." Aubrey got up. "But it's not that good as with the music on. So you should sing something for me."

"Anything in mind?"

"Surprise me."

"Go girl!" Stacie smacked her butt as she walked to the spot.

Stacie started singing. It was a slow song, but it still suited Aubrey's moves.

"_She's coldest in the darkest skin_

_And you glow inside the dream I'm in"_

She stopped a few feet in front of her, her back facing Stacie. She took a deep breath as she took a step away from her, and another, and another, perfectly on the beat if it had been there. She swayed her hips as she took another step and she placed her one foot in front of the other. She jumped a little as she rose one hand in the air and placed the other on her hips and she spreaded her legs a little before the landing.

"_By the moonshine I can see you_

_On the coldest side_

_Wait until my body's gone_" Stacie whistled.

Aubrey turned a bit around facing Stacie and bent her knee and placed her hands on her thighs and on the back of her head. Her body moved to the beat of the forest and suddenly she stood still again with one knee bended. She walked in a circle, stepping closer to Stacie and placing her feet carefully. She straightened her left arm to her left and held her right one in front of her chest, her palm also pointing to the left. She stood there for a few seconds.

"_Oh, when you argue_

_Don't let me down_

_So when you speak, you know_

_Look at me and the shipper's route_

_And leave the house behind"_

Then, her feet moved, one at the back of the other and again in the front as she moved to her right and spun around her axis and her arms moving gracefully around her body. She stood still again, her feet next to each other. She looked Stacie in the eye as she moved her straightened right leg far above her hip. The leg moved to the left and turned it in front of her other leg as she slowly put it down. She turned, swayed her hips, took a step and spun again. She straightened her leg and feet, only her toes touched the ground as she was standing on one leg.

"_By the moonshine_

_You glow in the dark_

_Come dance with me"_

Stacie didn't know what she expected. She saw the blonde jumping, turning, spinning and moving like she was made of water. She bended her body in the most elegant positions as she bended or stretched her arms or legs. This lasted only for second as she started to move again and bended her knees. Stacie could almost hear the Spanish music in the background as the melody whispered to her when to change from position and when to twirl around with one spreaded leg. Aubrey made one final jump when she walked over to Stace and stuck out her hand.

"Come dance with me!"

_By the moonshine_

_You glow in the dark_

_Come dance with me_

"But I can't-"

"I'll teach you, just come dance with me!"

Stacie took her hand and stood up. Aubrey placed herself in front of Stace and placed her hand on her chest and put her own hand on top of it.

"_She's coldest in the darkest skin_

_And you glow inside the dream I'm in"_

Slowly, she turned around while she was still holding her hand. She twirled Stacie around two times before catching her in her arms against her chest. She spun her around again, five times, but she stayed close to her. Stacie giggled as she almost fell over, but Aubrey placed her hand softly on her stomach and on her lower back. Her body moved closer, forcing Stacie to lean backwards, nothing supporting her but Aubrey's arm. She pulled her on her feet again and came so close their foreheads were touching. Her nose caressed Stacie's as she looked deep into her eyes.

"_No it's not you_

_Cause you are the night_

_Wait until the others come"_

Aubrey's hand moved from her stomach slowly to her upper right arm as she brought it up. She grabbed her hand and bended her knees a little. She took a step back with her right leg and waited for Stacie to take a step forwards with her left. She dragged the front of her foot in a half circle behind her and stretched it far behind Stacie and placed it on the ground. Stacie got the hint and took a step back and another when Aubrey moved forwards again. She switched sides and walked back again, her legs moving playfully around her body as Stacie tried to copy her movements.

"_Not it's not me_

_Come home and decide_

_Stuck, fall, break, laugh_

_I make stronger_

_By the moonshine_

_You glow in the dark_

_Come dance with me"_

They danced, twirled around together and Stacie was trying to keep up with Aubrey's simplified moves. After a while, Stacie dropped herself onto the ground, exhausted. Aubrey, still panting, dropped herself next to her. Stacie laid down and closed her eyes.

"God I'm so turned on right now."

"We should probably go." Aubrey smirked.

* * *

Somewhere further in the woods, Beca and Chloe didn't recognize this part of the forest.

"I've never seen this part of the forest. It's so light here." Beca said

"I agree, the trees, the ground, it all has a different shade than usual."

''How did we even get here? I don't remember taking a different path than normal.''

"I told you we should have taken a left at that large tree."

'' Well the last time we followed your advice, we almost fell in the quicksand." Beca rolled her eyes.

Chloe looked down at ground. She hated when Beca acted like this. She didn't really know why she acted the way she did.

''I'm so tired, I feel like I haven't slept in weeks."

'' Well then stop talking and save your energy''

"Could you be nice for a moment?"

"Maybe if you would stop asking dumb questions I would."

"I didn't ask you anything."

"Chloe, could you please shut up for just a minute?"

"Excuse me?"

"Just, ugh, just forget it."

They kept walking in silence, both convinced that the other was to blame for the fight they just had.

"Beca?"

"WHAT?"

"What's that over there?"

"I don't care, let's just head home."

"Look it's that cabin Aubrey and Stacie were talking about!"

"So it actually exists…" Beca said surprised.

"Let's check it out!"

They walked to the wooden door with the red cross just like the other girls had described it. Aubrey and Stacie had the extra lighter and Beca and Chloe had Ellie's flashlight in case they came across the cabin. Beca pulled the small metal flashlight out of her jeans and turn it on as she opened the door. Carefully, they walked down the stairs, Beca with the flashlight in front. The steps creaked below their feet as they left footprints on the dusty wood. Rags were hanging everywhere, and there was a thick mist of dust spreaded in the warm humid air. The stairs lead to a small room with a few dusty cabinets filled with some canned food. The food, when they inspected the cans, consisted of some mushroom soup and some beans and even some tomato soup. They checked the drawers and found some thick rope and some very thin rope, so thin it was almost invisible.

"So the x really marks the treasure." Chloe said as she opened a small box next to the rope which contained about 5 fishhooks. She jumped when she felt two arms wrap around her from behind and felt Beca lay her head on her shoulder.

"I think we're saved."

There was another box, which Beca opened. She gulped when she saw it. There were two small revolvers and two machetes inside the little silver box. The guns had both six bullets inside of them.

"I think this was some sort of shelter used in the second world war." Chloe said as she studied the map of the island on the wall before she tore it off and folded it neatly.

"Chloe look." Beca said as she carefully picked up the gun.

"What is that?" Chloe asked as she looked at the metal in her hands. "We're not taking those."

"Those guns can save our lives."

"We're not taking them."

"Chloe, we can use them for hunting and for protection! Wouldn't it be nice to have some decent dinner again?"

Chloe thought for a moment about the meat they had eaten when Beca accidently killed the tapir.

"Fine, but we're not using them unless it's a hundred percent necessary."

"Fine with me."

Beca took a leather jacket from a hook on the wall.

"It's a bit dusty but it's still intact."

"Let me see."

On the top right sleeve there was a small japanese flag embroidered on the dark brown.

"We can't just take this."

"It's a fine jacket. And I'm super cold without something to wear on my top. Look it fits perfectly considering how tiny Japanese people are."

"Okay, fine."

"So did we check everything now?"

"I think we did, we found some matches, some canned food, a water bottle, some silver knives, a frying pan, rope, fishing rod and some hooks… I didn't check the bucket over there."

She walked over to the what once was a bucket but now was a small pile of wooden boards. She found a hard, white substance as large as her fist. It was heavy like a rock and sparkled because of the fatty surface, just like…

"Beca! I found some soap I think!"

But Beca didn't come over to Chloe. When she was surprised no one answered she looked over her shoulder and saw Beca standing with a bow in her hands. The bow was handcrafted and shaped like a D, made from light polished wood and a medium string. She had found a note where the user of this storage had drawn several animals and marked the points on the bodies where to shoot them to kill them.

"Do you think you can use that?"

Beca grabbed one of the arrows from the leather quiver that laid next to it. With her right hand she pulled the string with the arrow backwards to near her face and with the other hand she kept the wooden body of the bow in front of her.

"When my parents divorced I was forced to join several summer camps through the whole summer. I had some archery lessons there because I didn't want to join treasure hunting, but I'll have to practice a little."

Chloe smiled and her face lit up. "Let's grab our gear and head home and show the others what we found!"

* * *

They were home surprisingly fast. It was weird they hadn't come across the cabin if it was so close. Of course, Ashley, Amy and Lily were super excited about the stuff they had found and they decided to eat the mushroom soup that night. They had to wait for about an hour before Stacie and Aubrey had returned, but Ashley also showed the surprise the Crafters had prepared. They had braided several twigs together forming a thick rope which they used to tie dozens of large bamboo branches together. These branches were first covered by some banana leaves and then with some grass to make the branches somewhat softer. There were four beds made this way. This was why Beca and Chloe were even more excited, because they wouldn't be sleeping on the cold hard stone that night. Every morning they would wake up with sore backs and cramped muscles from the cold hard floor and now, maybe they would finally be able to get some real sleep.

An hour later Stacie and Aubrey came back and they seemed happy. They hadn't even seen what surprises the other girls had prepared. But still, they looked genuinely happy. They were even happier when the Bellas showed what they had found and what they had made and they had assigned the beds. Amy would sleep alone on the single bed. Ashley and Lily would sleep on one double, Chloe and Beca, and of course Aubrey and Stacie.

The Crafters warmed up the mushroom soup from the can in the frying pan they found. It was a wonderful night. After dinner, the Crafters went to clean up the remains of the food, like they usually did, because that would attract other animals.

Beca grabbed the bow and one arrow and walked just outside of the cave to practice her aiming on a tree next to the cave. She picked a tree and took a few large steps away from it so she was about 9 feet away from the tree. She rose her bow and aimed at the target. She missed, but still hit the tree. She walked towards the tree, pulled out her arrow and tried again. Chloe just stood there in the entrance of the cave studying her friends actions. She missed again. But Chloe stood in the dark, so Beca didn't see her standing there. She missed again. And again. And again. She stormed to the tree with a cry while grabbing the machete from her belt. She charged at the tree and slashed the bark with the knife. She pulled it out and chopped the tree again with all of her strength and anger in her hands. Tears streamed down her face. The third time, she wasn't able to pull the machete out of the wood because of the sobs racking her body. She used her bare fist to hit the tree now before she fell down on her knees and sobbed while she pressed her head against the tree she had just attacked.

"I can't take care of her." she sobbed quietly to the tree.

"She's hurting and upset and I can't fix it. I can't comfort her like she needs me to."

She pushed her nails in the bark and dragged them down, the bark digging in the skin below her nails. Her nails and knuckles were bruised but she didn't care.

"I can't take care of them. It's too much. I'm not strong enough."

Chloe cried quietly as she heard it. She sat down, her back resting against the cold stone from the cave and looked into the night.

* * *

_A/N: Damn this was long!_

_Also, I finished a super secret project I was working on! I made a cinematic trailer of But The World Keeps Turning! You can find it on my Tumblr and on youtube if you search for "But The World Keeps Turning trailer". _


	25. Chapter 25: The Heart Won't Lie

Chapter 25: _The Heart Won't Lie_

It was already late when the Bellas decided to call it a night. They laid down in the decided pairs on the new made beds. Beca hadn't said anything to anyone when she had returned from practice. Now she laid down, her back turned to Chloe and she didn't wish her or anyone goodnight like she always did. Chloe stared at her bare neck as she had put her hair up in a bun with a band she had had on her wrist. She sighed and didn't know what she had to do. Should she try and talk to her or should she let her sleep and wait until tomorrow?

_Wake her and she'll hate you_ the voice in her head said. _Everyone does already_ another voice said. _Stop, please stop, not now_ she thought. _Why should we stop?_ the voice continued. _Why should we stop when such a worthless piece of shit is talking to us?_ She closed her eyes and tried to focus her thought on something happy. She thought how she and Beca had studied one afternoon. Well, she had been studying, Beca was working with her headphones on on her laptop.

She opened her eyes. _We're still here_ she heard. _You'll never get rid of us._ _Why are you so worthless?_ _Why are you still here?_ She put her hands over her ears, but suddenly she heard Beca's voice.

"Chloe?" Beca was laying with her face towards her. "Why are you here?"

"Beca what do you mean? There is something wrong with me I-..."

_Don't tell her you worthless piece of trash._

"I asked you a question, Chloe."

_You're just a waste of air._

Chloe hesitated and didn't answer.

_She will never love you._

"Why are you here Chloe?" Beca sounded angry now.

_She hates you._

"I ASKED WHY ARE YOU HERE? YOU RUINED MY LIFE CHLOE."

_She's gonna kill you._

"WHY DIDN'T YOU DIE LIKE THE REST OF THEM?"

She jumped up and shot towards Chloe, her mouth opening was far larger than was natural for a human being, covering her whole face.

"WHY DON'T YOU DIE?" she yelled as the opening of her mouth surrounded her face and Beca swallowed her head. She felt Beca's teeth scratch the top of her head and her cheeks as she had her whole head inside her mouth. There was a loud beep in her head. She heard her skull crack as Beca chewed on her with her jaws. She felt her eyes pop out of her sockets as Beca crushed her skull. She choked on the blood coming out of her head filling her mouth. She wanted to scream, but there was no sound coming out of her.

Then, nothing but black. The beep had stopped and she didn't saw anything. Her head felt like it had just exploded. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. _one deep voice kept repeating after the beep had stopped. _You should have died Chloe._ she heard Beca's voice again, coming from somewhere distant. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._ the deep voice continued. _I'm happy you died_. she heard Aubrey's voice talk to her, coming from the same distance as Beca's voice, but from another direction. Darkness. _I wish you had died sooner. _A white light. She saw a light in the distance. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._ The light was coming closer as she kept staring at it. It was coming closer and closer as the voices of Aubrey and Beca kept saying things to her which she couldn't comprehend. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._ The voices went louder as the light came closer and closer, faster and faster. Chloe wanted to run away as the light was approaching her incredibly fast and with a ear piercing noise, but she couldn't escape. She heard a cry of which she wasn't sure it was hers when the light struck her and she was blown away.

* * *

Chloe shot up, panting and covered with sweat. She looked around her to look where she was. _What happened to me?_ she thought. She shivered and stood up quickly. Beca was laying in the same position she was as when they went asleep. _You should have died_. she heard Beca's voice again. She ran away from the camp until she wasn't able to see the fire anymore. She ran to the river, dropped to her knees and threw up. _I'm going to kill you._ She heard Stacie's voice behind her. There was no one there however. She threw up again. _I'm gonna kill you_ the same voice sang mockingly to her. She threw her body forwards so she fell into the water and stuck her head below the surface, trying to drown out the voices. Laughter. There was laughter everywhere. Her lungs screamed for air but she only put her head deeper in the water, somewhat mumbling the sound in her head. The laughter still continued mocking her. Her lungs were burning. Her mouth was filled with water as her body gasped for air. She choked on it and tried to breath but there still was water everywhere. Laughter sounded louder again. Her consciousness was fading. But then she felt someone grabbing her shoulders and pulling her out of the water. She was released and she fell with a thud on the stones, facing upwards. She coughed and choked on the water she had swallowed.

"What the fuck Chloe?!" Stacie angrily said.

Chloe still coughed, but managed to speak. "Keep it down!" she whispered.

"What the fuck were you doing?"

"I didn't feel well and I felt like I had to throw up, but I didn't want to wake the others."

"Really?! Is that why you tried to drown yourself?!"

"Stacie it was nothing like that!"

"What was it like then?" she asked angrily.

Chloe didn't respond and thought for a moment.

"You're hearing them again, aren't you?" Stacie asked, now sounding more concerned. "The voices."

Chloe shrugged and looked at the ground. Her hand fumbled with the buttons on her plaid blouse.

"Chloe, we talked about this!"

She still didn't respond. Stacie grabbed her wrist. Chloe looked at her with eyes wide and tears welling up.

"Let me go." her voice was shaky.

When Stacie saw the fear in her eyes and noticed her trembling body she pulled the still soaked girl in her arms and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry." Stacie whispered in her ear as she stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry for everything that's happening to you."

* * *

A while later, they were laying on their beds again. She had still convinced Stacie not to tell the others, as they had other stuff to worry about. And of course she had to promise her that she would go to her when she heard them again or had a nightmare. The last thing was an easy thing to promise as she barely slept. She didn't actually sleep at all. This is insomnia, she thought. All night your thoughts are on the air. All night long are you thinking, am I asleep? Have I slept? Is this a dream? The edge between being asleep and being away turns into a dark grey area of not being fully aware of everything happening around you. You see dark shadows moving in the corners of your eyes. You hear footsteps behind you, formed miraculously by the wind. "I thought you were dead." Beca had said one morning when she opened her eyes. "Yes," she had replied, "me too."

She opened her eyes when she felt someone tugging on her shoulder. She groaned as she got up.

"What's wrong?"

Aubrey was sitting on her knees next to her.

"Can we talk?"

"So, what's it you wanted to talk about?"

Chloe and Aubrey had walked away from the Cave, into the forest until the Cave wasn't visible anymore. Not too far away, because in the dark they would never be able to find the way back on their own. They'd made sure that no-one was able to hear them, due to the way Aubrey had asked Chloe to come with her. It was something serious, what she wanted to discuss, but Chloe had no clue what it was about.

When they were in their desired place, a open place with a few trees surrounding them. Chloe sat down onto a big stone. Aubrey lowered herself on the soft grass instead of sitting next to her. She wanted to look Chloe in the eyes when she talked to her.

Here goes nothing.

"Chlo' how did you… I mean… Have you ever wondered…"

She just couldn't do it. She couldn't face the fact that after this, everything between her and Chloe would change. It was not that it would change her and Chloe's lives in a bad way. Probably their friendship would even grow stronger, if that even were possible. But telling what was on her mind, was like signing a contract that she was really thinking that. There would be no turning back after that, even if she changed her mind. But she couldn't back out now.

"How did you know that you were a lesbian?"

Chloe's mind was blown. She felt like she was slapped in the face by surprise. It really sounded like an innocent question, but Chloe knew better. She knew that this wasn't a question. This was a confession, wrapped in a question, she had done the same thing with Aubrey when she had come out.

"_What would you do when one of your best friends came out?"_

_It was just a normal Friday night and Chloe had invited Aubrey over to watch a movie together. Eventually, they wouldn't watch the movie because they didn't feel like it and they would lie on Chloe's bed, just talking and staring at the ceiling, or painting their toenails, like Aubrey was doing that specific Friday night. Chloe was just laying on bed, looking at the ceiling, avoiding Aubrey's eyes when she asked._

_The tiny pencil with red nail polish was for a brief moment stuck to one of the toes as Aubrey froze when she asked. Then, she looked up, towards the wall on the other side of the room, but not moving the little pencil. She took a few seconds to think about her answer. This made Chloe somewhat nervous. Why couldn't she answer like it was a normal question?_

_Aubrey knew this was a confession. First, she never thought of Chloe as a lesbian, but the last 6 months, she had suspected things. Chloe would talk about gays or lesbians who'd come out at Barden and more than once she said how cute a specific girl looked when she saw one. But Aubrey never dared to ask Chloe. What if she was gay? What if she actually said yes, what was she supposed to do? Aubrey was raised a strict catholic and she'd always heard from her dad and from the pastor that being gay was a sin. Once a month on Sunday, they would pray in Church that all the gays would be cured from their disease. She did believe in the word of God, but she, even when she were little, couldn't imagine God hating someone. God loved all people; the gays, the infidels, the Muslims and the trans genders. Everyone her church and above all her father warned her for._

_So she answered, knowing that if she would ask Chloe directly now, she would scare her away. She would play along._

"_I don't know, I'd be okay with it. It's not really a big deal or something."_

_After that, just as she expected, the story came, Chloe's story, about her feelings she hid for everyone, afraid that they'd push her away. That she was afraid that everyone would hate her. That she would be evicted from the Bellas. It was a downpour of words and eventually tears._

_Aubrey had put the nail polish away and pulled Chloe into a hug._

"_Even if you wanted to, I'll never leave you. You'll never get rid of me."_

She had only come out to her, not to anybody else. She wanted to wait to tell her parents or her friends. Aubrey was totally fine with that and they had only grown closer to each other. She wasn't telling the old Bellas from back then. Being gay was so not accepted in their little feminine group. They both remembered how one girl with an amazing voice wasn't accepted into the Bellas when the former team captains found out she had a girlfriend. So she had decided to keep it between them for now. Chloe never really thought Aubrey as a lesbian, but, to be honest, she didn't really think of Aubrey to be able to have a relationship at all.

"I knew since I first kissed a girl." she answered

Aubrey looked to the ground, afraid her face would show what she really meant, but it was already too late.

"But I know that look. That's not what this is about, is it?"

The silence was thick and uncomfortable. Aubrey didn't say a word, knowing that if she did that she would break down in tears. Chloe stood up from the rock she was sitting on and sat down on her knees in front of Aubrey, mere inches away from her. She wanted to see her, but the forest was almost pitch black. Aubrey looked pretty today. She always did actually. Especially when she was fully prepared for ICCA's finals, with makeup and her hair tightly bound back. But she liked her most, when she was about to fall asleep after a late sleepover, hair messy, without makeup and that faint but satisfied smile on her face.

"Are you- Do you think you are gay?"

She spoke each word with caution, like they were about to break when they were spoken too loud.

"I'm not gay," Aubrey whispered, barely able to catch her breath.

"Aubrey, I don't mind, you should know that."

"I don't either, I'm just not gay. Don't you even dare to suggest it." Aubrey stood up and moved away from Chloe, turning her back towards her. "Imagine what my parents would say. My father would disown me, which is probably the best thing that could happen. But this is irrelevant because I'm not gay."

Considerations were running through her head.

"Bree, talk to me."

"I just told you."

"No, would you truly talk to me."

Chloe now appeared to be right behind her. Aubrey let out a sob, before taking a deep breath.

"I don't know. Honestly, I don't know, I'm so confused right now."

"Hey come here," she pulled Aubrey close. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I actually feel something for someone, and I just don't know how to deal with it. I just don't want to go to her and confess my feelings, before actually knowing if I'm really gay or not."

Chloe pulled her into another bear hug.

"Who is it? Wait, if you don't want to tell me, that's okay, but the most important thing now is, how do you want to find out?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked you."

"Are you planning on kissing someone?"

"Maybe."

"But we need to find a suitable person for you, for your first girl kiss. But it has to be someone who doesn't tell the whole school about it. Preferably someone you know, so you could explain them. Well I think she has to be gay as well, because otherwise it would be weird."

Aubrey looked into her eyes.

"Someone who you can trust."

They still looked at each other, their eyes wandering over the other's face.

"Someone who knows you."

But Aubrey's eyes always returned to the amazingly deep blue eyes in front of her.

"Someone who will love you no matter what happens."

How could eyes be so impossibly blue?

"Someone who…"

Chloe was cut off as Aubrey leaned in and kissed her gently on her lips. She didn't know what she was doing. She didn't think. She just let it happen. Chloe let out a sigh when she felt Aubrey deepening the kiss and moved her hand to cup her cheek. She placed her hand on the back of her head and caressed the blond hair she had braided so many times. She pulled her even closer, their bodies touching. She felt how Aubrey smiled into the kiss and kissed her again.

She pulled away when she saw something starting to glow behind her eyelids. When they both looked around them, they saw thousands, maybe millions of fireflies around them, lighting up the forest. Chloe grabbed Aubrey's hands as she looked around her. She didn't notice the only thing Aubrey had eyes for, was for her. She had a green glow spread over her face. There were a few small scratches on her face and a small cut on her left cheek. Dark bags were visible below her wandering eyes. There was beauty in every single flaw.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yes, it is." Aubrey answered, not taking her eyes of her.

Chloe smiled widely as she looked around her in excitement. She turned to Aubrey again.

"Merry Christmas, Aubrey."

"Merry Christmas, Little Flame."

* * *

_A/N Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for reading and supporting me and this story!_

~April


	26. Chapter 26: Honesty

Chapter 26: _Honesty_

**Day 22**

It was strange how normal their morning routine had become. They woke up, had some fruits, then said goodbye to each other as if they could die that day. But the truth was, they _could_ die that day. And it scared them to death to think about one of them not coming home. So each morning they made sure they had said their thanks and their goodbyes to everyone.

In fact, it was strange how normal their daily routine had become. They would wake up, have breakfast, say their goodbyes and they would leave to gather food. The Crafters made useful items like beds and arrows and they gathered fruits from around the cave and they improved the items they had already made. When the sun was setting, the Hunters would return to the camp, dropping their loot and they would eat together. After dinner, they would go for a swim or just have fun and talk around the fire. On clear nights, the Bellas could swim for hours as the lake was illuminated by the moon and the stars. On cloudy nights, they would sometimes bring torches the Crafters had made and placed them in between the stones on the edge of the lake. Beca still taught Aubrey how to swim. Well, swimming wasn't the right word, she teached her to float and move through the water. It was strange how close the two girls had become with this simple activity.

Sometimes, they wouldn't swim and they would just sit around the fire. They discussed casual things, like school, cute boys, acapella and what they would want to do when they grew up. They rarely talked about what happened here or how they could get back one day. That was probably because no one dared to think about that. No one knew how they possibly could be saved. No one knew what they would be facing the next day. They talked. They sang songs together. Not the old songs, but new songs. They would play the game Beca and Chloe had come up with and played mini-riff offs against or with each other. When they were tired, they decided to go to sleep, each Bella on their assigned spots.

Beca snuggled against Chloe's shoulder. She wasn't very into cuddling, but she noticed one day that when she did, Chloe and her would suffer less from nightmares. So each night, she waited a couple minutes until most of the Bellas had dozed off. She laid her head just above Chloe's shoulder as she shove to her side. Her arm was rested on Chloe's chest and was moved up and down by Chloe's steady breathing.

Aubrey and Stacie always laid on their sides, facing each other. They often shoved during the night, moving closer towards each other as their bodies became colder. Their foreheads were touching as they woke up. The other would lay so close, they had difficulties focussing their eyes.

The Bellas woke up almost simultaneously on this day. The sunlight through the cracks promised a sunny day. The birds in the nests in the ledges in the stone chirped happily. They wished each other good morning as they carried out their morning routine. They washed their faces and hands in the water that ran through the cave. They gathered some fruits in the near area and ate them together as breakfast. After they had eaten, they decided it was time to leave. Aubrey, Beca, Chloe and Stacie would leave the cave again, divided in groups of two, like usual. Just like they did everyday, they said goodbye to each other. They hugged each other and wished each other the best. There was always a chance that for some reason someone would not return and this would be the last opportunity to say goodbye.

Aubrey noticed how Stacie pulled Beca to a side of the Cave where no one could hear them. Stacie said something to her. Beca nodded and signed to continue and she crossed her arms. Stacie told her something. It took her a while to finish her story. She was interrupted a few times by Beca as she mouthed "WHAT?" but she let Stacie finish her story. She nodded when she was done. Stacie told her something else and she nodded again. Aubrey felt a pain in her chest when Stacie pulled Beca in for a hug and she hold her closely. Her hand was entangled in Beca's brown hair. The other one was placed on her hip, where the shirt she had tucked in her jeans had come out, so she was touching the bare skin.

"I think we haven't said our goodbyes." Chloe said when she suddenly stood in front of her.

"Oh really?" Aubrey teased her as she hugged her. "Take care Little Flame."

"You won't ever stop calling me that, would you?" Chloe smiled.

"Nope." Aubrey giggled.

"Well, see you later then, Brey-Brey."

"Did you really go there?"

They let each other go. Aubrey looked at her.

"Just promise me you'll be carefull." Chloe said.

"I will if you do too."

* * *

The day passed slowly as Beca and Chloe walked their usual route. It appeared to be a normal day, when Beca wanted to talk to Chloe.

"Chloe, hang on for a sec, we need to talk."

"Okay, what's going on?"

"Stacie told me what happened last night." she blurted out.

"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about!"

Beca grabbed Chloe's hand as she tried to turn away.

"She told me about everything that's happening to you. About the nightmares, about the voices. I need you to know I'm always here for you."

"Oh that, it was nothing. It was a mistake telling Stacie, I shouldn't have bothered her."

"Trying to drown yourself doesn't sound like nothing."

"I wasn't trying to drown myself, I was just…"

"Chlo, it's okay. I'm here for you. I just need to know why before I can help you."

"Thank you, but I don't need your help"

"Chloe why won't you talk to me?"

"Stop pushing me! There is nothing to talk about!"

"I wouldn't keep pushing if this thing you have wasn't killing you from inside! I don't know what it is or what it's like, but I know it is destroying you! I can see it in your eyes when you look at me. I can see it in the way you tense up every time I touch your skin. But you have to know that if you don't tell me, there's nothing I can do!"

"What if there is nothing you can do, even if I tell you?"

"We'll see what happens after you do. I'll do everything I can so you won't get hurt again."

Chloe sighed. "Promise you won't tell anyone. I don't want them to know."

"Okay, just tell me what's wrong."

"Beca, I need you to listen carefully."

"What happened, just tell me." Beca grabbed Chloe's hands tighter. "You know you can tell me everything."

"So remember when I was captured by the Trebles?"

"Yeah, I do. It's hard to forget."

"They… They…"

"Tell me what they did."

"They tied me down and hit me. They all left to do something and only Jesse stayed with me to guard over me and he... and he…" her voice died as she struggled to find the words.

"Chloe, look at me. You're safe now."

"He and Bumper raped me."

The trees stopped rustling. Birds didn't make a sound. The whole world stood still in black and white as Beca watched the woman in front of her. Raindrops in the sky stopped falling and were hanging silently in the air. The hands she was holding suddenly felt cold as ice. The world stood still and didn't make a sound. She could only hear the ringing sound in her ears. She backed away from Chloe as she tried to comprehend what she was saying to her. Jesse, one of her friends, and Bumper had raped her. She woke from her shock as she heard Chloe crying.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through this." Beca pulled Chloe in quickly for a hug.

_They need to die_ was the only thing Beca thought. The thought scared her, but that feeling was suppressed by the anger she was feeling. Chloe cried in her arms, not saying anything. _What did I do wrong? _was the thought that replaced the first. _What did I do that caused this?_ She gently stroked her hair. _What did I do to that made her not tell me?_

"Tell me what happened after."

"I escaped when they were asleep."

"What about the voices?"

"I don't know when it started. I actually hear them with my ears. It's like people standing besides me, or creeping up. Sometimes it's just one, but when I'm alone it's so many that I can't sort out the voices from my actual thoughts."

"Schitzophrenia?"

"I really don't know."

They stood there for a moment. Beca became angry again. Angry on the guys who did this to her. But like she always did, she became angry on the wrong person.

"How could you not have told me this." she said angry as she let her go.

"Beca, I-I was scared and-"

"So you thought it would be an amazing idea to keep this from me?!" Her hands went through her hair. She didn't look at her as she paced in front of her. She was already making up a plan in her head. It was a very simple plan. She would walk until she reached the beach, she would walk to their camp and she would shoot everyone who had hurt her.

"I'm gonna kill the fucker, I swear to God-"

"Don't say that!"

"Why not? Because I fucking will!" Beca became angrier because Chloe wasn't as angry as she was. Chloe started crying again. But her cries only fueled Beca's anger.

"And to imagine that you wouldn't have told me if I hadn't asked."

"You think this is my fault, don't you?!" Chloe suddenly stammered. "That's why you're mad at me! That's why you wanted me to die just like the others did!"

"Chloe, that's not what I-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed as she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Beca took a few steps back and raised her hands in the air.

"Chloe, I don't want you to die. I don't know why you were thinking that, but..."

"Don't you dare to lie to me…" she sobbed.

"Chloe, let me help you." Beca tried as she took a step closer.

"Just stay away from me."

Beca took a few steps closer so she could try to comfort her, but Chloe jumped up and disappeared into the woods. The dark clouds above her let go of the rain they contained and soaked the land. Lightning fulminated above the trees. The sound of thunder filled the sky and made the island shiver and hold their breath. The thunder was loud like dozens of explosives were going off miles above her. Beca was in shock as she looked at the direction the girl had disappeared. Her eyes were wide and she pulled her hair.

_WHAT DID I DO?_

* * *

_A/N I'm sorry it took a while. Beca and Chloe are in deep trouble! Stay tuned!_

_~April_


	27. Chapter 27: Loud and Clear

Chapter 27: _Loud and Clear_

_Hearing_. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. The trees were shaking by the strong wind that howled in her ears. She heard someone screaming. She looked around to see if someone had followed her. A scream pierced through the sky again, and she discovered it was her who was screaming. _This is what fear must sound like._

_Smelling_. She smelled a combination of salty tears, fresh rain and the sweat dripping down her face. Her sense of smell had increased by the adrenaline that her heart was pumping through her veins. _This is what panic must smell like_.

_Tasting_. She tasted blood as her lip was torn open by some branches she had run past. Blood pearled down her chin and into her mouth. She tasted the bitter taste of metal in her blood. She tasted the salt from her tears. She tasted the dirt as she fell down, before she stood up and ran away again. The combination of all these terrible tastes made her throw up. _This what pain must taste like_.

_Seeing_. The world was blacker than the night. There were no stars or moon to illuminate her path. She didn't saw the trees she bumped into. She didn't see the dirt she fell down into. The world had become a empty dark place. It seemed like there was nothing there, but there was. Everyone was watching her. And mocking her. She couldn't see them. She was like a blind man running around and she didn't see what she was running from. _This is what disparity must look like_.

_Feeling_. Every nerve in her body was tense. Her heart was pounding in her chest and felt like it could burst out any second. She felt incredibly hot, but still her body was shivering. The rain clashed on her body as if it wanted to pierce through her skin. _This is what being hunted down must feel like_.

Chloe rested her head against a tree as she finally stood still. Her hands straddled her face, her nails digging into her skin.

"_Got you now"_ she heard Bumper's voice behind her. But of course, when she turned around, he wasn't there.

"_You still need to be punished" _Jesse's voice whispered in her ear. She put her hands over her ears, but that didn't block out the voices she was hearing.

"No…" she whispered.

"_I'm gonna rape you over and over and over, until you drop dead, you hear me?" _Jesse laughed. "_I'm gonna rape and kill that girlfriend of yours, I'll kill your best friends, I'll hurt everyone you ever cared about."_

"NO!" she screamed as she felt the tears streaming down her face.

"_I wish you were dead."_ she heard Beca's voice. She pushed her hands harder on her ears till it hurt.

"_Why are you so worthless? I should have left you long ago." _Aubrey said in her other ear.

She turned around and around, trying to shrug the voices off. Eventually, she pressed her forehead against the tree again. One hand was trying to hold the tree, but it slid off. With the other hand, she grabbed the gun she was carrying. She had been carrying it in the gap between her jeans and her body on her back. The two groups would always carry a gun with them. She clicked the gun open. Six rounds were in the case, waiting to get fired.

She pressed her head harder against the wood. Strands of her wet hair were stuck to her face. Her hand gripped the gun tightly as she laid her finger on the trigger. Slowly, she rose the gun. Very slowly as if she didn't want to scare the nature around her.

She would not get captured by the Trebles again. She would not go back to the Bellas and face Beca and everyone Beca would have told by now. And there was no chance she would survive out here on her own. She didn't _want_ to survive alone.

She thought of Stacie when she grabbed the gun. Of all the times she had asked Stacie's advice about anything. How she could always call her if she wanted to hang out or to go out. She thought about how Stacie had one special smile, which she saved when she was tucked in after a night out. It was a dreamy kind of smile. _Stacie had been so sincere_.

She thought of Aubrey when she raised the gun. The first thing that popped up in her head was the kiss they had shared. Soon the other memories followed. How they met. How they basically did everything together. She was her best friend and she would be devastated. But she would also be very disappointed with her. She couldn't face that fact. This had to happen. _Aubrey had been so kind_.

She thought of Beca when she pressed the gun against her temple. Beca's smiling face flashed in her field of vision, but soon faded and was replaced by the look on her face she had when she told her. She thought of all the things they had gone through. All the small things they had done as they were gathering food. The silly game they had made up. The stupid jokes they had made. The times they had swum together by the moonlight, so close to each other when the others were already sleeping. They had pressed their noses together as they stayed close to each other, trying to stay warm. Would she be sad if she died? _Beca had been so passionate_.

She thought of herself as she prepared herself for the last pain she would ever feel. She closed her eyes and prepared as well as she could for what was about to come. Her finger was laid on the trigger. The metal digged into her finger as she pulled the trigger.

* * *

Beca ran and ran as it started to rain. Where had she gone? Suddenly, she bumped into two people.

"Beca?" Aubrey asked worried. "What's wrong? Where is Chloe?"

"I-I lost her." Beca panted trying to catch her breath.

"What? What do you mean you lost her?" Aubrey was already angry.

"Shh, let her tell her finish." Stacie said.

"What did I do?!" Beca started crying. Stacie and Aubrey looked at her in confusion as they never saw her cry. There was a storm coming. The clouds above them were becoming darker and darker. Stacie wrapped her arms around her.

"Tell me what happened."

Aubrey was not impressed by the tears. She had done something to Chloe. She folded her arms and looked straight to the small girl in Stacie's arms.

"She… She…"

"Tell us, Beca." Aubrey's voice was strict and showed no emotion.

"She told me what happened when she was at the Trebles camp." Beca sobbed, but she had stopped crying. "She-..." Her voice was stuck in her throat.

"She was raped." she said eventually.

"SHE WHAT?" Aubrey yelled at her. Stacie was in shock as well. "By who?!"

"Jesse and Bumper."

"I'll kill them! I swear!" Aubrey said angrily. She smashed her fist against a tree.

"Poor thing…" Stacie shook her head. "Why didn't she tell us."

"She said she was scared of what would happen if she told us." Beca replied.

"Where is she?!" Aubrey asked her, still angry. "I need to talk to her. Where is she?"

"When she told me…" Beca stammered. "I freaked out. I got mad at the Trebles but I reflected that on her. She ran away."

"Oh my God, are you fucking kidding me?!" Aubrey screamed at her. "You were mad at her?!"

"Aubrey, calm down." Stacie said.

"Do you actually hear what she's saying?! Her reaction on this was to get mad on Chloe! On the victim! Great move, girl! Is there anything in this world you can do right?!"

"I supported her the best I could for the past few days! You were nowhere to be found, remember!" Beca shouted back.

"What did you say?"

"Oh you heard me!"

"You had one fucking job, Beca, we chose you as the leader of our group, because you had it sorted out so very well!"

"I only became the leader of the group because the original leader was too occupied to be able to take care of us!"

"Because you are the only one who has a heart made of stone and never shows any feelings!" Aubrey growled.

"Guys! Guys! ENOUGH!" Stacie stepped in the middle of the two fighting girls trying to keep them away from each other. "It's not to discuss how we've gotten into this mess. We need to find Chloe now, before she get's hurt. She's not good with being alone now in her condition."

"Condition?" Aubrey spat as if it was a dirty word. "What do you know about all this?!"

"Chloe told me before that she was having difficulties processing some things. So she developed voices in her head-"

"Voices? You mean you knew all this?!" Aubrey turned her anger towards Stacie.

"She never told me what she was processing, so I guessed it was just the crash she was struggling with. How was I supposed to know that a few guys couldn't keep it in their pants?!"

"How could you not have told us about what she was going through?!"

"I told Beca and I wanted to tell you, but-"

"Oh so you told Beca because that would be a better idea than to tell her best friend who knows everything about her? You two, are the worst I've ever met." She pressed her index finger hard against Beca's chest. "Just because you happen to be fuckbuddies doesn't mean that you can exclude her best friend from any crucial information about her health!"

"What does our sex life have something to do with this?!" Beca yelled at her.

"You know what? Fine. Go fuck each other right here and don't care about Chloe. I'm going to look for her." She said. She was obviously hurt and she turned around and ran away.

"Aubrey wait!" Stacie screamed and wanted to run after her.

"Are you seriously going back to her?" Beca grabbed her arm. When she saw Stacie's scared eyes, she let her go and put her hands up.

"Fine, I'm glad you made your decision about who's really important in your life."

"Beca, don't do this now…"

"Stacie, go."

"Beca-"

"GO NOW" she yelled. Stacie turned around and took off without looking back. Beca ran to the opposite direction. Her tears were warm on her cheeks.

The world became pitch black and it started pouring. Thunder clashed above their heads. They were alone, for the first time in so many days. Rain poured down on their faces as they looked and yelled for Chloe. They didn't find each other. They didn't find Chloe. But they all heard the same gunshot. Loud and clear.

_This is what death must be like_.

* * *

_A/N Thank you for reading._

_~AprilChloeBlue_


	28. Chapter 28: The Second Face

_Chapter 28: The Second Face_

She thought of herself as she prepared herself for the last pain she would ever feel. She closed her eyes and prepared as well as she could for what was about to come. Her finger was laid on the trigger. The metal digged in her finger as she pulled the trigger. But as she pulled the trigger, her hand was pushed away from her head, causing her to fire into the night sky. She turned around and looked into the eyes of a man, who at that moment

looked like a scared little boy.

"Chloe put the gun down."

"What the fuck?!" was the only thing she could answer. She reloaded the gun and pointed it in the guy's direction. Donald's eyes were fixed on hers.

"Don't do anything you might regret later." he said carefully. His hair was hanging in messy strands around his face.

She stumbled backwards and leaned against the tree. Tears were streaming over her face.

"I'm so tired." she cried. "I'm so tired of everything. Why can't I just finish this..."

"You are stronger than this. We will get over this together. It doesn't matter what got you here, it will get better, I promise." He had a small beard on his face, Chloe noticed.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm so hungry. I can't live on three pieces of fruit each day. The blisters on my feet tear open when I walk the first mile everyday because of the humidity. I've been bitten by enormous insects, every night again. I never get more than an hour of sleep each night. My head is messed up. I can't think straight anymore."

"We can figure this out. Just put the gun down, Chloe."

His words seemed to affect her. Slowly, she lowered the gun, so it was pointing at the grass. Donald took the gun out of her hands and unloaded it. Chloe's gaze was vacant and pointed at the ground.

"We should get you back to the others. Where are they?"

Chloe simply shrugged. He dropped in front of her on her knees to look her in the eye just as if she were a child.  
"What happened Chloe?"

"I don't know."

"We need to get you back to your friends, okay?" he said slowly. "Now, what direction should we be heading."

Chloe thought for a moment, but she couldn't remember. She started crying and fell down to the ground. Donald pulled her in for a hug and held her, his back resting against the tree against which she had almost ended her life, until she fell asleep.

* * *

Beca was wandering through the woods even after the night had fallen. Her machete chopped away useless pieces of jungle that were in her way. She was exhausted. And she was incredibly mad at herself. How could she get mad at Chloe for something like this. She had been at this same spot before and she knew it. Looking in the dark was no use. She dropped herself against the tree, resting her head on her pulled up knees. Her machete was lying safely between her legs, her left hand wrapped around it. The bow was still around her torso, just as the handmade quiver holding about a dozen arrows.

She just sat there in the rain. She wasn't even sure if she had fallen asleep. She had just sat there and let the exhaustion and thoughts flow in her head. Her thoughts wandered, from the crash to the Cave, from her parents to her childhood. But no matter where her thoughts went, they always lead back to Chloe. Her genuine smile. Her sparkling eyes. Her bright hair. The cute little giggle when she found something funny. The way she bit the side of her bottom lip when she wasn't certain about something. The way she sucked her lips in when she thought about something she wanted to say something but didn't. She missed the way her hands had felt on hers when they were practicing the choreography. She missed her sweet scent. And her bubbly personality.

Her head shot up when she heard something. The rain had stopped. Her clothing was soaked and she had difficulties lifting the heavy weights up as she stood up. Her eyes were puffy from crying. Her left arm with the machete was hanging by her side as if it wasn't attached to her body. With her right hand she wiped a strand of wet hair from her face. She walked towards the bushes where she, now for the second time, heard the sound.

**Chloe **walked through the bushes and pushed away the broad leaves she was standing behind. When Beca saw her, she sighed in relief, but as she wanted to run to her and hug her, she found out she couldn't move. Her feet were overgrown with roots. Beca looked at her. She only now noticed she wasn't wearing anything. She was standing naked in front of her. But she also noticed something strange about her. The look on her face wasn't the same one as Chloe had. She looked like Chloe, but she knew for certain that the **Chloe** standing in front of her wasn't her. Joy was replaced with fear as she noticed her skin was darker than Chloe's. And she noticed something on her body that was odd. As she looked at her stomach, she noticed that there wasn't a belly button on her lower stomach. There was just skin.

"Who are you?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"**Twelve**" she said with a devilish grin. "**Eleven**."

Beca couldn't do anything.

"**Ten**."

She was frozen stiff to the ground.

"**Nine**."

She wanted to stop her but she couldn't.

"**Eight**."

Her voice was ringing in her ears.

"**Seven**."

She felt the words dig in her skull.

"**Six**."

They were pierced in her brain.

"**Five**."

Her mind was bleeding.

"**Four**."

The blood from her brain was dripping out of her ears onto her shirt.

"**Three**."

She could taste it in her mouth.

"**Two**."

She could feel it running through her nose.

"**One**."

She felt it slip down into her throat.

"**Faith. Denial.**" She waited for the last word. "**Insanity.**"

"Who are you?!" Beca was finally able to scream. Drops of blood came from her throat as she spat it to the woman in front of her.

"**Say my name.**"

There was something rumbling in her throat. Beca couldn't control the feeling. She felt like she was about to throw up. Like there were endless strands of hair trapped in her throat. Her body gagged as it tried to get it out. There was nothing she could do. It was like she was looking at her body from the outside.

"**Say. My. Name.**"

"CHLOE" she heard herself scream as she threw up the words that had been stuck in her throat. Saying the name took an eternity. As she said it, the woman in front of her laughed. It was a crazy maniac laugh as she raised her arms to the sky before she exploded into a million tiny pieces of human flesh. Her blood coated Beca and the plants around her with a dark crimson colour as her name echoed through the neverending night.

* * *

Beca woke up when she heard herself scream. She cringed and twisted her body. Her breathing was heavy. She saw the woman in front of her, but it wasn't Chloe. There was a concerned looking blonde on her knees in front of her, touching her face with the top of her fingers.

"Are you okay?" Aubrey asked.

Beca for a moment, forget how to talk. She still felt the hair stuck in her throat. She quickly turned away from Aubrey as she threw up and started crying. Aubrey pulled her into her arms and hold her close. _I'll get mad at her again later. She needs me now._

* * *

Chloe shot up. The first thought that crossed her mind was _am I dead?_ No, she wasn't. But it sure felt like it. She felt like something had died inside of her. Like a dark entity had left her body.

Where was she? She looked at the boy who was asleep next to her. Very carefully, she tried to get off his lap without waking him up.

"Where are you going?" he asked her without opening his eyes.

"I can't stay here any longer."

"Where are you planning to go to?" he said as he rubbed his eyes.

"Anywhere but here."

Suddenly he was behind her and he grabbed her arm.

"We need to talk about what happened."

"I know." she said. "I know and I'll tell you. Let's just keep walking until we find our camp. I need to talk to the girls. I owe them."

* * *

_A/N I didn't want to post it before it was ready. Anyways, thanks for reading._

_~AprilChloeBlue_


	29. Chapter 29: Drill Sergeant

Chapter 29: _Drill Sergeant_

"Beca…" the voice was distant. "Beca… Wake up…"

Beca grunted as her eyes fluttered open. She felt a sharp stinging pain in her head. She looked at the girl who woke her. Aubrey looked unusually tired. But she waited patiently for her to wake up.

"Are we going to look for her again?" Beca asked. Aubrey sighed.

"Let's just try to return to the camp to see if she has returned on her own and to explain the situation to the others."

"Listen, Aubrey," Beca grabbed her arm as she was walking away from her. "I know that it doesn't bring her back, but I'm really sorry for what happened to her."

"I know." Aubrey sighed while she looked at the ground. She hesitated first before she continued, while she rubbed over her bruised knuckles from punching the tree. "And I know that staying mad at you won't solve anything. Don't think that I'm not mad at you anymore because I am. But I shouldn't have said all those things about you."

"Let's just try to keep out of each other's hair for now." Beca replied.

"You have to promise me one thing." Aubrey looked directly in her eyes. "No more secrets."

"Okay, fair enough."

"So are there things you need to tell me before we leave?" she unconsciously planted her hands on her hips looking in suspicion at her. Beca smiled lightly as this was the old Aubrey which she hadn't seen since they were here.

"Uhm well…" Beca looked somewhat embarrassed, which Aubrey thought was unusual for her.

"Well what?"

"I saw you and Chloe kissing the other night." Beca blurted out.

Aubrey's eyes were wide. She took a breath and opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again and sighed out the air she was holding. She licked her lips as she was desperately trying to find the right words.

"Look," Beca said when she saw that Aubrey was struggling, "I don't mind at all, but I don't want this to become awkward. I just want to know what that was about."

"I'm not gay if that's what you're asking." Aubrey shot at her in defence.

"I didn't say that."

"Okay, fine."

The silence that followed was so awkward that they just stood there, both fumbling with their hands. Beca fumbled with the ring on her thumb, Aubrey pressed the bruises on her knuckles, sending jolts of pain through her hands.

"So what was it about then?"

Aubrey hesitated.

"It wasn't about anything. She just kissed me." Aubrey said softly. "I know you and Stacie slept together."

"Yeah you made that very clear yesterday when we were fighting." Beca smirked. "And I'm pretty sure you're not comfortable with two Bella's sleeping together as that could split up the group."

Aubrey raised her eyebrows as she was surprised Beca was being so honest with her. "No, I'm okay with it."

"Yeah, I mean, I need to get used to that idea, but it's not a Treble… It's Stacie." She seemed to hesitate when she said her name though.

"What's the deal between you and her anyways?" Beca wondered.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you guys seems to have gotten very close the last few weeks."

"I told you I'm not gay."

"Right. But what about her?" Beca rolled her eyes.

"We're just friends."

"Do you both think that or just you?"

"What is that supposed to mean." Aubrey squinted her eyes.

"Look, I've known Stacie pretty well and the way she acts around you is just… unusual for her. Just try not to hurt her."

"Is she a lesbian?"

"Why are you asking me?"

Aubrey shot a glare at her direction.

"I don't know, Stacie has always been known for sleeping around with everyone. Let's just say she's very… creative with the term 'sexuality'." Beca smiled when she said that.

Aubrey chuckled when she heard that.

"Are you sure you're okay with me and Stacie hooking up? You don't really seem like a person who would." Beca said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aubrey said again.

"What I mean to say is that you appear really uptight sometimes."

"Uptight?!" Aubrey said angrily. ¨Maybe I'm just uptight because I have to deal with your attitude Beca!"

"You said I had to be honest with you. Try to understand what I'm talking about."

Aubrey closed her eyes and sighed, trying to control her anger.

"I wasn't always like this." Aubrey suddenly sounded really small compared to her outburst just now. Beca was surprised at her response and hadn't expected for Aubrey to give in that easily.

"I know I have been hard on you. I know I have been hard on all of you. But as my father always said: "If at first you don't succeed…"" a sob escaped her throat ""...pack your bags.""

"I'm sorry." Beca said awkwardly. "My dad get's on my nerves as well sometimes."

"You don't understand."

"Then tell me what happened."

She didn't really know what happened, but something inside her snapped and she started to talk. She talked about how her father had ignored her when she was a baby. About how he raised her like he trained his men in the military and strictly Catholic.

A drill sergeant. That's the only thing Beca heard when Aubrey talked about the countless times she had been locked up in the closet because she had 'misbehaved' in her father's eyes. Her father had taught her to love the things he loved and to hate the things he hated. And everyone who didn't agree with her was either a pain in the ass or an enemy who should be destroyed and banished. She was there to win. And only to win. And she would make her plan work no matter how much effort it was or how many people she had to take down for. Everyone who was not swimming along her current, was swimming against it and blocking her way. That's only one reason she was always ordering people around.

The other side of the story was that she needed some release from her dad. She wanted to be in control of something, instead of being controlled. To force instead of being forced. To punish instead of being punished.

Where was her mother? That question of Beca was also answered in her story. Her mother was one of the many mothers of girls her age. And her father having such a successful job, she wanted to blink out among those mothers as well. She did everything, knitting courses, gardening, cooking, mowing the lawn… This often resulted in her mother not being at home. When she was home, she was busy catching up with the latest episodes of the popular soaps she would discuss with the mothers the next day at tea time. Or she was mowing the lawn to make it just prettier than the neighbours' lawn. Or cleaning the house, for as the mothers would come over at her house to have tea.

She also wanted to have a nice and successful daughter, but she didn't want to push her daughter into any of it. But she didn't mind her father doing it for her. She stopped him several times when he went too far.

The first time she stopped him, was when she had painted on her wall in her room. She had grabbed a marker and painted a big house on the wall with nice colors and a colorful garden in front of it. When her father came into her room, he was furious she had drawn on the walls. And that it was such an ugly picture. He expected better from her. He yelled at her that she had to stop being such a child and had to study and become better at the science subjects she was getting B's in. When Aubrey protested that drawing was an art and that she loved drawing, dancing and singing, he became angrier. When she mentioned that she was practicing dancing with the boy her age from next door, he had struck her face with the back of his hand. Her mother, had run upstairs when she heard the clamor and entered the room when he hit her for the very first time. She intervened by standing in between him, but it didn't stop him from hitting her instead of the little girl. It wouldn't be just that once that would happen. She had been 6 years old.

And as they talked about how her dad had raised her, they eventually came across the sexuality issue again. Her father had told her so many times when they were little that homosexuality was a sin. It wasn't healthy and all gays and lesbians should be banished from this God blessed country. But Aubrey, although very young when he told her, didn't believe the words from her father. God loved everyone, that's what she learned at the church club she went to every sunday afternoon. She couldn't imagine God hating someone for loving someone. That couldn't be right. God was love. And she was to prove it. So that is why the 6 year old Aubrey kissed her friend when they were playing dolls in her room. She needed to know why her father made such a big deal out of it. It had been a simple kiss on the lips, but her father saw and locked her in the closet for 5 days after he had beaten her up, only bringing food and water 3 times a day. '_Do not judge, or you too will be judged_ _\- Matthew 7:1_' she had carved into the wooden door with her nails. Her father, however, never noticed it.

* * *

They walked while Aubrey was still talking about everything that had been cropping up. Beca was just walking besides her, her hands in her pockets, listening to her story and often nodding her head. After about an hour the surroundings became familiar again. Just a few minutes later, they saw the Cave. They were home. The sun was already up when they walked through the gap in the stone walls. The moment they came in, they were pulled into a bone crushing hug from Amy.

"Don't you flat butts ever do something stupid like that again."

"I'm so sorry." Aubrey said.

"Chloe." Beca could only say softly. She saw the redhead standing in the back of the cave. Her arms were wrapped around her body, protecting herself. Her eyes were fixed on the ground, only moving for a second when she heard her name.

Beca approached her slowly, as if she would run away like a scared animal if she made too much noise. Maybe she wasn't even sure it was really her.

Slowly, she raised her hand and let her fingertips brush the skin on her cheeks. Chloe's eyes darted from the ground to Beca's face, but she didn't seem to recognize her and she stared at a point far behind her.

"I thought you were dead." She whispered, careful not to break her into tiny pieces.

"Yeah, me too." Chloe said inaudibly.

Aubrey pushed Beca aside and pulled Chloe into a hug as she cried.

"Chloe… I'm so sorry for what happened to you."

The redhead snapped out her gaze and looked around her. As she saw her friend hugging her, she pulled her closer.

"It's okay." She said. She looked to Beca who still stood there not believing she had returned safely.

"No, it's not." Aubrey said, letting her go. "We need to talk."

Chloe felt herself relaxing and put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. Her hands fumbled with the edges of the picture hidden between the fabric.

"We do."

* * *

As Aubrey and Chloe talked in private, Beca talked to Amy.

"When did she return?"

"Early this morning, just when the sun came up. Donald brought her home, you know."

"Donald?"

"Feel the irony?" Amy nodded.

"I guess she told all of you what happened?"

"She did indeed." She stared awkwardly to the floor.

"Where is he now?"

"After he dropped her off, he returned to his base. He didn't want to raise suspicion that something else had happened besides being lost. The Trebles are still looking for us. Because God knows why… It must still be about that stupid thing they were fighting about and they blamed Chloe."

"Do you know what was up with that anyways? I never dared to ask."

"All I got from Aubrey the other night was that something had happened at some party or club, she was being very vague about it." Amy shrugged.

_This 'no more secrets'-thing between her and Aubrey would come in handy_ Beca thought to herself and decided to ask her later that day.

"Where is Lily by the way?" Beca said as she looked around, trying to spot the shy girl.

"We sent her out this morning to look for you. But she should be back this afternoon. She wouldn't stray too far from the Cave."

"Stacie hasn't returned yet?"

"She hasn't." Amy shook her head. "Why did you guys split up anyways?"

"We uh… got in a fight." Beca admitted.

"Well, I hope they both return safe and sound."

* * *

They sat around in a circle as they talked about what had happened the other night. Amy, Ashley, Beca and Aubrey listened carefully to Chloe's story about what happened the night at the Trebles where she carefully explained every detail of what happened to her. She told all the things that had happened to her last night and how Donald found her. It felt great to be able to talk to the girls openly again like she used to.

They decided not to gather any food today, but to call in a day off and only gather some fruits from the nearby mango trees, so they could wait for Stacie and Lily to return. But as it became later, the sun began to set and the girls started worrying about where they could be. No one had seen Stacie the past 24 hours and she must be on her own. A lot could happen in 24 hours. They decided that they would go look for her in the morning if they hadn't returned by then. They called it a night very early and didn't go for a swim, like they usually did. When they laid down to get some sleep, no one actually fell asleep. Aubrey tossed and turned to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but without the hands of the brunette wrapped around her hips, that seemed impossible. This night felt colder than the other nights she had slept here. She watched between her eyelids how Beca struggled to find a position as well next to Chloe again. Her eyes were wide open.

Aubrey laid her arm on the empty spot next to her. She hoped that everything would be okay.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for leaving a review :D_

_~AprilChloeBlue_


	30. Chapter 30: And Bruised Her Soul

_A/N: Hi guys! I don't really do Author's notes anymore, but this chapter we have something to celebrate! This is the 30th chapter! That's a lot and I never expected it to become this long! I'm sorry this took so long, I didn't want to force my writing, as I know that it doesn't get any good when I do. So this is what I came up with after weeks and weeks of trying and proofreading (endless amounts of proofreading, which is a lot of work on your own). But anyways, let's celebrate with…:_

* * *

Chapter 30: And Bruised Her Soul

"No… NO!" Stacie's feet didn't find any grip on the dusty walls as she slid down. Her feet were sliding into the dark hole first, but when her foot got stuck in some roots, her body tumbled over her feet and she fell face down into the darkness. Her hands tried to soften the blow, but she fell too fast for her arms to support her. She screamed out in pain as she fell on her shoulder on the hard rocks below her. She heard a loud crack coming from her arm. As she tried to crawl up, she tried to see through her tears where Lily was. But it was too dark. The hole was about twelve feet wide, she discovered when her hands were roaming over the stones. Soon, she felt the skin and clothes of her friend.

"Lily… Lily… Please talk to me." Her hands touched her face. Her thumbs gently found her eyes, which were open. She brought her mouth to her ear but she didn't hear her breathing. She put two trembling fingers to her neck and searched for a pulse.

"No… Please don't do this to me…"

* * *

_One hour earlier_

"I can't believe that's what happened to Chloe." Lily said in disgust.

Stacie and Lily had crossed paths just a little earlier. While Stacie told her what had happened, they walked home. The sun was already setting and it was getting dark really soon. The two walked a while in a comfortable silence.

"We haven't really been talking much to each other the last few weeks." Stacie sighed.

"We always did when we were back home."

"I was always the only one you were talking to. Why is that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lily said shyly.

"Well you know, you never really talk much to anyone in the Bellas besides me. You never speak up for yourself."

Lily stayed silent.

"Is this because what happened at the Japanese Students Association?"

"No, that isn't it at all."

"I know that after you opened up to them they mocked you and kicked you out of the club. But not everyone will bully you for liking different things than they do. Only assholes do that kind of thing. You're too good for them."

Lily sighed. "But I really liked the members of the JSA. I just don't want to get kicked out again, so I don't talk and I say things to keep them away from me."

"Which are super creepy by the way."  
"Yeah, I know." Lily smiled when she thought about the things she said.

"How do you even come up with those things? Eating your twin in the womb?"

"I saw a movie about that once! It was about someone with a split personality, because he had eaten his twin brother."

They laughed about it for a while.

"Just like you have some sort of split personality. You're really funny and nice when we hang out, but you completely shut yourself down when someone else is around."

"Yes, I guess you can see it that way."

"So are you sure you didn't-"

"No, I didn't!" Lily laughed and playfully nudged Stacie's shoulder.

They walked on for a while, laughing when Lily explained all the creepy things she had told the other Bellas. The sky had turned dark as the night had fallen over the jungle. The usual sounds were audible again, and the scent changed, just as it always did.

"Why did you trust me, though?"

Lily looked at her.

"Why did I get the privilege of you being my friend?" Stacie asked her.

"Because you're different yourself. I guessed that if you were in some sort of way different there was a bigger chance you would accept me."

"I know Aubrey has been a bitch to you. To everyone actually. But being here on this island has changed her. I know, I've been with her each day and I can see her change when I'm with her." Stacie said. "But before we went here, she wouldn't even look at Beca, but now Beca is teaching her how to swim. Anyways, what I'm trying to say, is that she won't kick you out if you will just be yourself around us."

"I hope she really changed. And that it will stick to her when we get back. I've gotten really close to you guys on this island. And with my family living in Japan, I feel so strongly connected with all of you that I consider you as my family."

"Why don't you say that to us? You can say that to me, but if you don't say it to all of us, they won't know how you feel."

"Okay." Lily sighed. "When we get back at the Cave, I'll tell them that I really care about them. That they are more than just Bellas to me. I consider them as my friends. As my family. And we will always look out for each other."

"See. You'll see that they will be more drawn to you when you tell them. Even Aubrey."

"So Stace…"

"Yeah?"

"What's the deal between you and Aubrey? I mean you admitted at the beginning of this year that you thought she was hot."  
"I still think so." Stacie corrected her.

"But what do you think of her now she's changing?"

Stacie hesitated. "Well she's not the bitch anymore she used to be. Bossy, sure, but also a caring friend."

"But what do you think of her romantically?"  
"I don't want to talk about that."

"Ooooh" Lily mocked her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I don't want to talk about my romantic feelings." Stacie said.

Lily was certainly not prepared for that reaction.

"So, what if, hypothetically, you liked her, why don't you-"

"Lily, stop!" Stacie was now angry with her.

"But if you like her you should just-"

"I said no!"

"Why are you being so sensitive about this?!"

"Shut up!"

"Why won't you listen to me!" Lily yelled. "You told me I should open up more! Why don't you do the same thing!"

"You KNOW why I can't have feelings for someone." Stacie growled.

"Just because you're scared, doesn't mean-"

"I'm not scared! I'm just…"

"Just what, Stacie?"

The friends were standing in front of each other, a few feet of earth between them. Lily looked into her eyes, showing no signs of fear. Stacie looked back, her eyes appeared black because of the darkness of the night.

"I'm just hurt." Stacie said softly.

"Stace, come here…" Lily stepped forwards to pull her into a hug.

"Don't touch me!" Stacie said in a reflex and pushed Lily back. She stumbled backwards as she was pushed away from her. Her eyes were wide as her feet weren't able to find any grip on the dirt below her feet. Her foot slipped away and she fell, head down into a large, gaping hole, which neither of the girls had noticed before. Her hands were grasping to Stacie to pull her back. Her eyes were wide open, filled with fear and desperation. She screamed one final, ear piercing scream, before she fell down to her death.

* * *

"Lily… Lily… Please talk to me." Her hands touched her face. Her thumbs gently found her eyes, which were closed. She brought her mouth to her ear but she didn't hear her breathing. She put two trembling fingers to her neck and searched for a pulse.

"No… Please don't do this to me…"

Her whole body was trembling. Her hands felt a bulge on the side of her neck where she had checked her pulse. She was gone.

"I'm so sorry…"

She felt how her breathing quickened to a deeper and sharp intake. Her heart was racing so fast that it might explode inside her chest. Her hands grabbed her hair as she tried to comprehend what had happened and tried to think of what she was supposed to do. Tears were streaming over her cheeks. She screamed for help, only to get startled by her own raw voice. She couldn't breathe. She stood up, placing her hands behind her head, but her breathing only became quicker. As she panicked, her hands clawed in the dirt on the walls, but her injured shoulder kept her from climbing up. She tried to push against the dirt walls, which appeared to move closer and closer towards her. Her body was shaking so hard, her legs couldn't support her weight and she fell down. She cried and screamed for what seemed an eternity. But no one came and she still wasn't able to control her breathing. She cast one last look at the lifeless body in front of her, before she fainted.

* * *

"Stacie!" Stacie heard someone screaming.

"Lily…" she moaned when she felt every muscle in her body tense up again when she woke up.

"Lily! Are you there?"

Stacie's eyes fluttered open. The throbbing pain in her shoulder was unbearable. Her eyes were puffy and her throat was sore. She jumped back, pressing her sore shoulder into the dirt when she saw the body of the girl in front of her. She screamed at the top of her lungs, closing her eyes and covering her face with her hands.

"Shit! Stacie! Where are you!" She heard the voices now closer.

"Where are you!"

Stacie screamed again, but her scream was muffled halfway by a sob.

"Stacie, are you-" Aubrey's head appeared above the large opening in the ground. Her eyes were wide as she stopped mid-sentence. Soon the others had gathered as well around the edge of the hole.

"Holy shit, dude, are you okay?" Beca said

"Stacie what happened?"

"Why isn't she moving?"

Everyone was talking at the same time.

"She's dead!" Stacie sobbed and she felt her stomach drop and her breathing quicken again. She coughed and gasped for oxygen. "Please get me out…" She cried. For a few seconds, nobody moved or said a thing.

"Fuck, how are we getting down." Aubrey said to Chloe standing next to her. Chloe only shook her head in disbelieve.

"I'm going in." Beca said as she sat down on the edge of the hole. She lowered herself into the hole, pressing her feet into the soft dirt on the walls.

"Please be careful." Chloe begged her. Beca gave her an assuring nod.

Gently, Beca lowered herself deeper and deeper into the hole. She grabbed roots and large stones to steady herself. She moved very slowly, so she was sure that she wouldn't slip and at the bottom was freaking out.

"Stacie, baby, I need you to try to take a deep breath okay?" Chloe said carefully, trying to calm her down.

"No-No…" Stacie said. She was crying curled up in a ball.

"Beca, get down faster!" Aubrey commanded.

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"How are we getting her up?" Amy asked. "Do we have some kind of rope?"

"I saw something back there, help me get it." Ashley said and she and Amy ran off to get it.

Finally, Beca jumped the last few feet down and landed in the dust at the bottom. She pulled Stacie into her arms and she sat down.

"Shh… Don't cry..."

"I-It was an accident…" Stacie sobbed.

As she sat down, she looked over to Lily's body. Her eyes were wide open, but lifeless. Her neck was twisted in an odd angle. Stacie sobbed in her arms, but let out a cry as Beca pressed her hand onto her hurt shoulder.

"Stacie, are you injured?"

She didn't respond.

"Stacie, baby…" She hold her face in her hands and turned it towards hers. "Please tell me if you're hurt."

Her mouth opened and her lips trembled, trying to talk.

"I-I fell…" she gasped for more air. "I fell on my shoulder."

"Okay. That's okay. Chloe will take a look at it when we're up again, okay? You're gonna be fine."

Stacie's eyes widened as she heard her name. "Chloe… Is she okay?"

"She's fine. And you're gonna be fine. You just need to breathe with me okay?"

"She's dead… She's dead…" she murmured. "It's my fault.

"Look we found this." Amy said as she and Ashley brought a liana they had found on one of the trees they had passed.

"Lower it." Aubrey commanded.

Beca looked at the woody vine and thought of a way to get them both up. She helped the other girl up and told her her plan.

"I'm gonna single wrap the rope around your leg and across the top of your shoe. You need to clamp down with your other foot on your first foot, so you'll trap the rope. Stacie looked scared. Before she climbed in the vine, she dropped to her knees and kissed Lily's bruised forehead. She used her thumb to rub some sand of her cheek, before she cried again and turned around. Lily's brown eyes pierced right through hers.

"Will you close her eyes?" Her voice was very soft. "I can't do it."

Beca gave her an assuring nod. "Please go."

"Okay, now you just need to hold on with your one arm to the vine and they will hoist you up."

Stacie looked up and saw that the girls had formed a line, all grabbing the rope at the same time.

"Ready?" she asked. Stacie gave her an unsecure nod.

"Pull!" Beca yelled to the girls above them.

Smoothly, Stacie was pulled up. Her weight was supported by the clamped rope between her feet. When she finally reached the edge, Aubrey grabbed her hand and pulled her on the solid ground again, pulling her into a short hug, before handing her over to Chloe, which examined her and helped her breathe. Beca sat down on her knees and gently closed Lily's eyes. It almost looked like she was sleeping. She moved her shoulders and her head so it was placed in a natural position. They dropped the vine down again and Beca came up the same method Stacie had used.

"It's all my fault…" Stacie sobbed.

"I need you to take of your blouse." Chloe said, silently crying but still inspecting her shoulder. "I think you broke something."

"I-I pushed her away from me… and she fell down…"

"Stacie, none of this is your fault." Aubrey said, visibly in tears. When Beca was up again, she found comfort in Chloe's arms as she rested her head against her chest.

They stood there, holding each other while they were crying. They all knew that this island, the island where so many beautiful things had happened, had more horrors to reveal before they would leave. It was only a matter of time before the Hell would be taken over by Heaven again and everything would be fine. Then, the island would tear down the things it had created and the Hell that followed would swallow every glimpse of joy they had felt. This had become the frightening, yet so delightful New World.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you for reading!_

_~AprilChloeBlue_


	31. Chapter 31: I Do

_A/N: Hey guys! I know it has been since forever since I uploaded another chapter. I had tons of exams and essays and more, but I have something to make it up to you! I present to you, the first ever Double Chapter! What's that about? Normally, my chapters are 1500-2000 words, and this one has 4300+, so it's like two chapters merged into one! I know! You're welcome!_

_Also, we're nearing the climax of the story, so if you have any suggestions or prompts for this story, you need to post them RIGHT NOW in the reviews or in a PM. If I go on with the plot as I have planned, there is probably no room left for any ideas, so if you have anything cool in mind, let me know!_

_Alright, here's the Double Chapter as promised._

* * *

Chapter 31: _I Do_

The day after Lily's death the activities seemed like normal. But for everyone, it didn't feel like normal. Stacie had been unusually quiet during the trip for food with Aubrey. When they offered her to stay home for a day so she could process what happened, she had declined. She knew that she had to do something to distract her from the fact that Lily's death was her fault. It didn't matter how much the others had told her that it wasn't. If she hadn't pushed her, she would still be here. That was the one and only fact that kept repeating over and over in her head.

Aubrey on the other hand, tried to ignore that fact. She tried with might and main to comfort the brunette, but that appeared more difficult than it seemed. She hadn't really bonded with Lily, but losing her had affected her somehow. It was the death of a Bella. It was the death of yet another one. And this had made her realize how lucky they all were that they were alive. It was a God-gifted miracle that they hadn't died. There were so many things that could have gone and still go wrong.

But she didn't ask what they were fighting about. This way, Aubrey didn't know the fight was actually about her. How Stacie's feelings towards her changed her sudden mood and she became angry, no scared. But this wasn't only Stacie's fault, Aubrey thought. She should never have become angry at Beca and Stacie. She should never have left them alone. If Stacie hadn't been alone, Lily and Stacie wouldn't have fought about whatever and she wouldn't have been pushed. She knew it was ridiculous to blame herself like that, or anyone for that matter, but she didn't seem able to push that feeling that was pressing down her chest.

It had broken her heart to wake up in the middle of the night after the event and found Stacie missing. First, she had been scared something had happened to her, but when she saw her sitting on the edge of the creek, she was overcome by sadness. When she slowly walked to her, she saw that Stacie had smashed something, cutting her knuckles in the process. There was dried blood on her hands and was still dripping down her fingers, into the water that touched them. Her eyes were vacant, staring into the depth of the water. When Aubrey hesitantly touched her shoulder, she bursted out crying and found comfort in Aubrey's arms the remains of the night.

Beca and Chloe hardly talked at all. They hadn't talked since the accident and only discussed the casual things about the trip and its preparations. Beca was afraid of asking Chloe how she was. She knew that Chloe wasn't in an emotionally and mentally stable condition and that asking about it would probably make it worse. Chloe had promised that she would come to her when the voices would talk to her again or if she felt she needed to talk. She knew she couldn't rely on her about that, so she had to ask. But she was afraid of the answer.

Beca was hurt by the accident as well. Mostly because she felt that it was her fault that the accident could happen in the first place. She should have stayed with Stacie after the fight with Aubrey. It was senseless to run off like that and leave everyone to fight for themselves. And above all, she still regretted getting angry at Chloe when she told her what had happened to her. She knew that Chloe hadn't forgiven her. And how slim their chances seemed on this God forsaken island, she needed to be strong and optimistic for Chloe. She had to make sure that Chloe would believe they would survive and leave this island.

Just as Beca had predicted, Chloe blamed herself. Not only she was mocked by her consciousness, the voices haunted her again. But she was scared to tell Beca because she didn't want to cause her more stress than she already had. She had to face this alone. And when they walked the next day, looking for food, she was dead tired when she hadn't slept again that night. This was now the third night she had been awake, and it was having its effects on her.

_You're a murderer, Chloe._  
She sighed and tried to ignore the voice. Beca was walking in front of her, so she didn't notice it. It was raining gently. When she had fallen asleep after the short lunch they had, Beca had decided to let her sleep for a while. She cleaned the remains of the food they had and decided to take a quick walk as the surroundings were covered with beautiful flowers. If there was a heaven on earth, she was sure it must look like this. A field of soft grasses, with all kinds of bushes and trees filled with flowers, spreading their sweet scent. A soft but not unpleasant rain dripped on the leaves and caused small streams of water to pour down the leaves. There was no wind at all and the air was still warm.

She made sure she would keep Chloe in her range of sight so she would be there when she woke up. Her eyes fell on a 6 feet tall bush, covered with pretty chalice-like white flowers. She plucked one and. But she noticed that behind the flower, there was an odd looking fruit, with a green shell, like a chestnut but without the spikes on the shell. She plucked one and hurried back to Chloe when she saw she was waking up.

But when she came back to Chloe, she noticed she was dreaming. Her body was tossing and turning and she muffled out a faint groan.

"Chloe… Wake up, you're dreaming." Beca whispered, trying to wake her up gently.

"N-No! I didn't do it!" Chloe screamed. "You're not real! You're dead! Stay away from me!"

"Chloe!"

She let out a scream, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Chloe, wake up!"

With a yelp, Chloe opened her eyes and shot up. Her eyes darted around her and she tried to comprehend where she was, but when she did, she began to sob.

"Every time I wake up, I expect to wake up in my dorm and realize it was all just a bad dream. But every time I still wake up in this hell. This is real. This is happening."

Beca sat next to her and wrapped her arm around her.

"It's been so long since we crashed. We're never getting out of here, Beca. Sooner or later, we will all die here."

Beca felt a stinging pain in her heart. She hated to see Chloe like this. But also because what she said was the truth. Every day they spend on this island, the smaller their chances became to get rescued. But without hope, their chances of survival were decreasing as well. She had to stay strong. If it wasn't for herself, she had to be strong for Chloe. She would break down when she would confirm what she just said, and who knows what she might do if that happened.

"You're not gonna die here, Chloe." She said trying to sound confident.

"You don't know that, Lily thought that as well."

"I will make sure you won't. We'll get out of here." That's one thing Beca had to make sure. If there was only one to survive, it had to be Chloe. This girl has been through too many things to die. She had to survive. And Beca realized that she would do anything, yes anything, to make that happen.

_She'll leave you, Chloe. Just like everyone else_ the voice said.

"Please don't promise that." Chloe sobbed.

"But it's true. I'll never leave you alone. I'll always be right there for you. We're gonna make it through, together." She kissed the top of her head.

"I want you to promise me something."  
Beca hesitated. "What is it?"  
"Promise that when we get home, we will live each day as if it was our last. No more holding back. We're gonna live."  
Beca tried to fake a smile. "Let's do that."  
"Okay, so what is the one thing you want to do in your life?"  
She shook her head.  
"Come on, we'll make it happen when we get back. You said it yourself, we're getting out of here. And when things get normal, we'll work the things off our list."  
"I've always wanted to be on the radio."  
"When we get back, I'm gonna send your mixes to all the radio stations in the state until they play it!"  
"Would you do that for me?" She said in awe.  
"Of course I would for you. And they will eventually play it to get rid of me." She winked.

Suddenly, Beca jumped up and motioned Chloe to stay quiet. Chloe dove behind a tree. Without a sound, Beca took the bow from her torso and an arrow from the quiver on her back. She took a few steps forward before she aimed the bow and shot between the bushes 15 feet away from them. She had gotten quite good at this. Every night she would practice on her stealth and bow skills, and she definitely had gotten better. This was confirmed when she heard a loud squeal from the bushes. She ran to them and jumped on top of the small hog. She had only seen his tail when they were talking, but now she saw that it wasn't a very big animal, but big enough to eat for tonight. Chloe tossed her the machete, and she watched how Beca quickly slit the throat of the injured hog.  
"Thank you for your sacrifice." Beca said quietly. "May the gods take care of your soul."  
They skinned and gutted the beast and left the remains. They had made the mistake once of taking the remains, only to get bugged by animals through the night who had noticed the smell of blood and flesh. Carefully, they put the useful organs and the meat in its skin, which they wrapped like a bag. As she secured that no meat could fall out the handmade bag, Beca asked:  
"What is the one thing you want to do?"  
"I-I want to get married…"  
"Really?" Beca couldn't help but smile as she rolled up her sleeves somewhat more, staining it as her arms were covered in dark red blood.  
"Yes, I mean, there is something beautiful about having that special connection with someone. Knowing that you will never have to be alone again. That you'll always look out for each other."  
Beca looked relaxed, but her mind was working on full speed. She was scared to death that she would lose Chloe again. And she wanted to be there for her no matter what. And that was what it was all about wasn't it. She couldn't just… But before she could finish the thought, she found herself on one knee.  
"What are you doing?" Chloe asked confused.  
Beca shove the ring on her thumb from her finger and held it between her right thumb and index finger.  
"I'm living for today." She simply answered and faked a light smile. "I'm making your dream come true."  
"Beca-"  
"Chloe Anne Beale, will you marry me?"  
Chloe put her hands over her mouth in shock.

_She could never love a murderer like you._  
"Are you serious?"  
"I can't remember a time when I was more serious than I am now."  
"I-I…" Chloe hesitated, she saw it in her eyes.  
"We'll ask Amy to marry us. We'll always be together."

"I can't, Beca. I can't ask something like that from you."

"You're not asking me anything. I'm asking you to let me stand by your side. Forever. I promised you I'll never leave your side. This is my promise."

Chloe hesitated. _She doesn't love you like you love her. But who could ever love someone so fucked up as you are?_ The voices mocked her.

"Please Chloe, I want to be there for you, but you have to let me."

Chloe sighed. _Don't do it Chloe, she'll leave you like everybody else_.

Beca stood up and walked up to her. Gently, with the ring still between her fingers, she cupped her hands over Chloe's ears. She pressed the sides of her hands against her temples, muffling the sounds around her.

"Don't listen to the voices in your head, Chloe." Chloe looked into her eyes when Beca spoke the words. "Listen to your heart."

Chloe hesitated for a moment, but then said: "Yes, Beca, I want to marry you!" And she pulled Beca into a hug.

* * *

"Chloe looks unusually happy today." Aubrey smiled as she looked with Beca at her humming a song while helping prepare the hog. "I wonder what happened to her."

"We're getting married." Beca said, showing no signs of emotion on her face.

"Excuse me?" The news struck Aubrey with a blow. Unwillingly, she thought of that one night with Chloe. Where she kissed her. And she had known that Chloe secretly loved Beca, but the reality still hurt. Why? She wasn't sure. She didn't even like her like that. But maybe the fact that she would have to share her friend with someone else caused the jealousy.

"Please, don't be like this." Beca said when she saw the look on her face.

"Well, I just heard my best friend is getting married, how did you expect I would react?!"

"This is really important for her. Please," Aubrey's eyebrows rose when she heard the plea "please be her witness. I'm not expecting you to do this for me, but do this for Chloe."

Aubrey looked at the ground as she considered it.

"Do you love her?"

Beca was dumbfounded by that question.

"I asked you a question, are you in love with her?" She urged when she didn't get an immediate response.

"No, I'm not in love with her."

"Then what the hell are you doing, Beca?"

"Honestly," she paused. "I don't know. I just want her to feel safe."

"Isn't this about what happened yesterday?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah, it is." Beca admitted. "Look, Aubrey, we both want her to be happy and look at her now. I know this is stupid and irresponsible, but let's just for once not focus on what we want." She looked at the girl sitting on her knees next to the hog. "But on what Chloe needs."

"As much as I disagree with both your decisions, I'll be her witness. Just… Don't fuck this up, Beca. She's… You're going to hurt her feelings when this thing blows up in your face."

* * *

"You're getting WHAT?" Stacie yelled.

"Keep it down." Beca whispered. "We both know this is the best for Chloe."

"Are you sure about that?"

"If we get married, she will feel like she has a protector. And it's something she's always wanted to do."

"And this couldn't wait until, I don't know, not _one day_ after Lily died because…?" She asked annoyed.

"This isn't to disrespect her, Stacie. But Chloe blames herself for what happened, she needs someone in a time like this. The voices came back, and I think this is gonna work out for her."

"Will it still work out when she discovers you don't love her?"

"What do you mean?" Beca asked.

"I mean, Chloe totally has the hots for you. Isn't this 'marriage'" she used air quotes to mark the word marriage "showing her the wrong signs?"

"She isn't in love with me and besides, she knows we're not getting married because love. It's about the bonding."

"Right, whatever you say." Stacie rolled her eyes. "You're both adults, so make your own decisions. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"Don't worry about it." Beca said. "But will you be my witness?"

Stacie showed a faint smile for the first time since the accident. "If this is what you both really want, of course I will."

* * *

Later that evening, the rain had stopped and the sky was clear. A mixture of the sunset and moonlight glowed through a crack in the cave ceiling when they stood on the edge of the lake with the waterfall. Birds were soaring back to their nests in the ridges in the stone. The light was scattered by the water which made the lake look like it was covered by thousands of tiny diamonds.

Amy stood by the very edge of the lake, her back facing the waterfall. Beca was guided to the altar, which wasn't more than a elevation of white rocks. She looked at Stacie who let go of her hand and walked off the altar. Beca gave a faint smile to Amy and then turned around to see Chloe walking to the altar, her arm entangled in Aubrey's. Just like they had pre-arranged, they started singing _You'll never be alone_ by Anastacia.

"_The world is changing  
And time is spinning fast  
It's so amazing how you came into my life  
I know it seems all hope is gone  
I know you feel you can't be strong  
And once again the story ends with you and I"_

She couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. She had washed her hair with the last remains of the soap they had found and it was spread over her shoulders. Her soft blue eyes looked now ice blue in the moonlight. When their gazes crossed, Chloe have her a faint smile, full with something Beca recognized with hope. She was once more convinced that she was doing the right thing for Chloe. When Aubrey took Chloe's hand and put it on top of hers, Beca felt herself blush. What had she gotten herself into? She wondered. Aubrey stepped off the altar and stood next to Stacie.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here on this beautiful night to celebrate the friendship between these two flat butts." Beca had told Amy that she must not use the word love. "And what's a better way to confirm a friendship by getting married?" Beca and Chloe smiled at each other. Stacie glanced shortly to Aubrey, but looked quickly away when she saw Aubrey did the same thing.

"May this marriage give them peace, joy, comfort, contentment and the Bloe we all have been looking for." Amy continued, followed by a giggle by the audience. "And may Beca and Chloe both look forward to each new season of their marriage, just as the world looks forward to each new season of the year. For all seasons bring with them their own special moments and memories."

"Dude," Beca said in wonder, "Where did you learn all that?"

"I was the only girl in Tasmania who owned and could read a Bible, so I always had to attend every wedding. Every wedding." Amy replied. "Please, don't ask."

"An essential requirement of a good marriage is a strong bond of friendship and trust. Beca and Chloe, your love for each other will grow deeper with every passing day, but it's important to remember that your love stands on a foundation of genuine, mutual affection and respect for each other." Amy continued. Beca squeezed Chloe's hand she was holding.

"To truly love another person is to be willing to accept both their strong points, and their weak points, with equal measures of understanding and respect. For it is not the words that you will speak today that will bond you together as one, but the strength of the love and commitment found deep within your souls."  
"At this time, I'll ask you, Beca, and you, Chloe, to face each other and take each other's hands. Beca, do you want to take Chloe to be your wife, your partner in life and your one true love?" Beca cringed when she heard the words 'one true love'. Amy noticed and she tried to choose her words better. "Do you promise, Beca, to cherish her friendship and love her today, tomorrow and forever? To trust and honor her, laugh with her and cry with her? To be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

Beca looked at Chloe and locked her eyes on hers. Chloe's eyes were filled with hope and expectation. Beca hated to see those eyes filled with pain and tears. She was convinced this was the right thing to do.

"I do."

"Chloe, do you want to take Beca to be your wife, your partner in life? Do you promise to cherish her friendship and love her today, tomorrow and forever? To trust and honor her, laugh with her and cry with her? Do you promise to be faithful through good times and bad, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

Chloe didn't break their eye contact. "I do."

"Officially, you would have to sign a contract now, but we don't have any paper-" Amy said, but she was cut off by Chloe.

"I have paper!" she almost yelled and she took the faded picture of Ellie and Johanna from her back pocket. She had never lost it or gotten rid of it. Sometimes when she couldn't sleep, she looked at the picture and imagined that the picture was her life some time from now. Everything would become alright. Everything had to become alright again.

"We don't have a pen." Aubrey said.

"But we do have this." Beca said. She had seen in Chloe's eyes how important this was for her. She took her machete from her belt and pressed the point of the knife in her left index finger. When a small drop of blood had gathered, she pressed her finger down on the paper back of the picture, looking straight into Chloe's eyes when she did. Chloe took the knife from her and did the same thing.

Aubrey and Stacie were hesitant at first, but they both knew that the witnesses had to sign the paper as well. When Aubrey's hand were trembling too much to cut her finger, Stacie gently placed her hands on her and took the knife out of her hands. Without saying anything, she made a small, shallow cut in her friends index finger. After Aubrey had pressed her finger next to Stacie's and below Chloe's fingerprint, Stacie grabbed Aubrey's injured hand and hold it dearly.

While they signed the picture, they all continued the song.

"_And anytime you feel like you just can't go on  
Just hold on to my love  
And you'll never be alone_

_Hold on_  
_We can make it through the fire_  
_And my love_  
_I'm forever by your side_

_And you know_  
_If you should ever call my name_  
_I'll be right there_  
_You'll never be alone"_

"And as your official unofficial wedding priest, I pronounce you now spouses for life." Amy said while she smiled. Beca took the ring from Ashley and put it on Chloe's finger. Everyone applauded and smiled when they hold each other hands.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Beca's stomach dropped and she felt like she was about to throw up. Her eyes shot to Amy who just shrugged. Then she looked to Aubrey and Stacie, who looked just as surprised as she was. But she couldn't back out now. Chloe needed to know that she was serious. When she looked back to Chloe, she saw that the hope she had seen before had vanished. She looked disappointed, almost. Without further thinking, she placed one hand on her cheek and one in her neck, leaned in and kissed her. With her thumb, she brushed away a tear that fell on her hands. But deep inside, she cursed herself for doing this.

Stacie looked at them, still holding Aubrey's hand and thought while shaking her head _girl where have you gotten yourself into_.

* * *

_A/N: There we go. Let me know what you think and if you want to see more of these super long chapters or if you want just regular ones. Thanks for reviewing and supporting me and SEND ME YOUR IDEAS RIGHT NOW! _

_Smell ya later,_

_April_


	32. Chapter 32: Crash, Crash, Burn

Chapter 32: _Crash, Crash, Burn_

Later that night, Beca played with the fruit she had found at the paradise like spot earlier. She pried of the spiked shell with her knife. The inside of the fruit wasn't filled with juicy flesh like she had hoped for, but with seeds. She scraped a few off with the point of her knife and put them inside her mouth. After chewing on them for a while, she had another batch of seeds. They didn't taste like anything at all. Disappointed as she hoped she would have found something to flavour the food they had been eating, she threw the fruit away, layed down and closed her eyes. When Beca finally fell asleep much later that night, she felt like a dark heavy blanket covered her.

"I've come for you, Beca." she heard a deep voice, raw as a heavy smoker. Beca's eyes darted around behind her eyelids looking for the origin of the voice. She fell her throat contract from fear. This voice was too real to be asleep, but she couldn't open her eyes.

"Trying to escape, dear?"

Through the dark she saw even blacker smoke rise from two dark pits in front of her. Two eyelids opened and showed her red, bloodshot eyes, with small yellow pupils like a snake's which casted a bright and angry yellow light on her face. She sat up on her hands, noticing the cracked, dry and dead soil below her.

"You knew this day would come." the voice continued.

"Who are you?" Beca asked with a trembling voice.

The figure in front of her grinned, showing its white sharp teeth, which looked yellow in the light of its eyes.

"I," it answered, "am your kind's worst nightmare."

* * *

"Beca…" Chloe shook her shoulder to wake her up. "Beca, wake up."  
But she didn't respond. Chloe shook her harder, but she didn't show any reaction. Or proof of life in general. Chloe's heart skipped a beat.  
"Beca! Beca, wake up!"  
Beca grunted and her eyes fluttered open  
"Dad?"  
What the- Chloe thought.  
"Dad, that really is you!" Beca shot up and embraced Chloe tightly. "I'm back! I had such a crazy dream! How long have I been out for? When were we rescued?"  
"Beca, what are you talking about?"  
"I've been rescued. We were on an island! With Chloe, and Aubrey, and Stacie! Where are they, I need to know that they're okay!"

Chloe noticed her dilated pupils and the sweat on her forehead. But she couldn't find a cause for this strange behaviour. She only had seen a few other people behaving like this, which was at a party last year where people were hallucinating. But they were on acid. There was no way Beca could be on drugs, right? But there was no way she would joke about this either.  
"What the hell?" Aubrey whispered to Chloe as she sat on her knees next to her. She turned to Beca. "What is wrong with you?"  
That drew the attention of all the remaining Bellas.  
"I'm okay now, Doctor, thank you. But where are my friends?"  
"Beca, what are you-" Stacie began, but she was cut off.  
"You're friends are in another hospital. They're doing fine, just relax." Chloe said, looking at the other girls, motioning to the other girls not to object her. "I'm just gonna have to talk to the nurses and the doctors here, just lay down."

Chloe talked with the Bellas outside the cave about what was happening. They all didn't know why Beca could be hallucinating so severe, but they decided to play along until it would pass. Most important issue now was that Beca wouldn't hurt herself or someone else.

"We're not leaving you alone with her, Chloe." Aubrey had said.

"We need to gather enough food, and we only can when we go in two groups."

Aubrey had hesitated.

"Look at her." Chloe had continued. "She acts like a 6 year old. I'll be able to handle her."

Eventually, they decided that Chloe would stay with her today and the rest of the Bella's would go out for food. It was true that they no longer had the supplies they found in the shelter, so they had to find food. Aubrey and Stacie had paired up and took Beca's bow, Amy and Ashley took the Beca's knife. Chloe still had a gun for emergencies.

Beca laid herself down on her back again on the soft mattress. She had missed this so much. She saw her father and the doctor and some nurses leave the room, whispering to each other. Her eyelids were feeling heavier each seconds and the light in the room became brighter as the sun came up and scattered its light through the open window on her left. She heard the sound of the birds outside. Finally, her eyelids fell shut. The sun was so bright, the light reached her eyes through her eyelids. The sounds of the birds, changed into the scratching noise of countless black crows. She sank deeper into the mattress and she tried to open her eyes. But it seemed that her eyelids were glued shut to each other and she discovered she wasn't able to move a muscle at all. But she knew that there were black crows sitting on the window frame, looking at her. The sunlight was so bright, it burned away her eyes. It hurt so much and she tried to scream, but she still couldn't move. The crows flew down on her stomach and head and picked at her skin below the hospital gown and her hair.

The sun burned through her eyes into her soul, leaving burning and gaping holes. She felt how the beaks of the crows picked their way into her chest, reaching her heart. The crows on her head had trenched through her skull to her soft brains. They tore them both out with a ripping noise and they took it through the window to the open world. Beca felt herself finally able to scream as she let out a ear deafening scream as she squirmed with her body to scare the crows away. The light of the sun pierced through her skin and flamed with an intense heat through her body, as she sank through the mattress and she fell.

She found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well.

Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her, and to wonder what was going to happen next. First she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything: then she looked at the sides of the well and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves: here and there she saw maps and pictures hung apon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled "ORANGE MARMELADE," but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody underneath, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.

"Well !" thought Beca to herself, " after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs ! How brave they'll all think of me at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house !" (Which was very likely true.)

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end ?

"I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time ?" she said aloud.

"I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see : that would be four thousand miles down, I think—" (for, you see, Beca had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over)

" —yes, tha 's about the right distance—but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to ?" (Beca had not the slightest idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but she thought they were nice grand words to say.)

Presently she began again.

"I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards ! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word)

" —but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?" (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke—fancy curtseying as you're falling through the air ! Do you think you could manage it?)

"And what an ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking ! No, it'll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up Somewhere."

Suddenly, she fell down on the cracked soil she had seen in her dream.

"What just happened?"

"Did you really think you could escape from here?" she heard the smoker say.

"What are you talking about?" Beca responded, slightly panicked.

Through the cracks of the dry soil below her, was now a red light emitted. The slits were glowing like the burning ambers of a fire. If she had looked around, she had seen the endless dusty plains streched out next to her. In front of her was a creature, taller than she was. His skin was covered with black scales and he had two large horns growing from its skull.

"Are you the Devil?" she said breathlessly.

"That's what they call me." he snorted "I'm here to take care of the Lost Souls."

Beca thought about that real quick. "Am I dead?"

The creature smiled again and ran his fingers through his black beard. "You're gonna wish you were. Listen, I don't have much time, so I'm just going to explain this once." he growled "Somewhere in on this forsaken plains, there's a gate. A gate to the place where you want to be. It's your job to find it."

Beca looked around, but she couldn't distinguish right from left. All looked the same.

"Listen to me child, you got one shot at this." he said "**Awake, arise or be for ever fall'n**."

This scentence made the soil below her tremble. Fire errupted from the ground around her. She jumped up and started running, away from the flames which were hotter than regular flames. She ran and ran as fast as she could away from the consuming heat. The orange fire looked like it was a liquid and formed shapes of people who screamed at her as she ran past them.

An yellow arm shot from the wall of flames on her right and grabbed her wrist. Her flesh burned against the hot surface and Beca tried to get loose. She saw the gaping spirit of an old woman in the flames, who got her wrist. Her skin sizzled as it curled up and blistered. The older woman beconed with her other hand. Beca screamed out in pain. The spirit of the woman disappeared as she saw another spirit in the flames punch her down. In the flames, Beca saw the facial gestures of a girl. Her hair was yellow as the fire, but she recognized her.

"Cynthia!"

"Leave…" It looked like she she screamed, but she could only hear her faint whisper above the screams. "I can't come with you... Go! Now!"

Beca pulled her wrist from the slackened grip from the woman. The flames had burned deep through her flesh, so white bone was visible below a few thin, red tendons. She didn't have time to take care of her wrist properly, because she had to run again. She ran for what it seemed a small ethernity, before the flames bounched up against an invisible wall. She was finally safe.

* * *

Aubrey and Stacie walked through the jungle searching for food. They had made an small arm string to help Stacie support her shoulder. They had used one of their belts and had tied it around her neck. Her arm wash hanging in the belt in front of her torso, to relieve the stress on her shoulder, as it hurt very much from the fall.

Stacie and Aubrey hadn't talked much the day before as Stacie was still shocked about what happened to Lilly.

"You know, we haven't talked about what happened two days ago."

Stacie sighed. "Maybe I don't want to talk about it."

"Stacie, please."

"Fine." Stacie stood still. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me how you feel?"

Stacie sat down against a tree.

"I miss her so much." she simply said, and she started crying. The darkness she had felt when she was trapped had engulfed her body when she tried to sleep or when she was alone. It entered her body like black smoke, through her nose and mouth into her thoat, which contracted whenever she thought about the incident.

Aubrey, not expecting what just had happened, sat next to her and put her arm around her.

"It's not your fault."

"But it is!" Stacie said back immediately and she looked at her. "I pushed her!" she said as she pressed her finger against her chest, pointing at herself. "If it wasn't for me, she'd be happy and alive right now."

"But it wasnt your intention to push her into that hole." Aubrey said back calmly. "It was an accident, Stacie. Accident, no matter how unfortunate they are, do happen."

"I'm so, so sorry, Lilly." Stacie sobbed as she buried her face against her pulled up knees.

"I keep thinking that she must be so mad at me."

"I don't think-"

"I killed her, Aubrey!" Stacie yelled as she looked at her. "It's not like I broke some of her stuff, I ended her life! How can she possibly forgive me for doing that. It's not reversible! There's nothing I can do to make this right. How do I tell her parents when we get back? How do I even tell MY parents when we get back? They don't want to have a daughter who's a mur-"

"You didn't murder anyone." Aubrey said. "What happened to Lilly was an accident, Stacie."

"I hear her voice in the sounds around me, Aubrey. I see her face in water when I drink." She cried. "I hear her scream everytime I close my eyes… First I lost Cynthia… Now I lost Lilly too."

Aubrey didn't know what to say, so she pulled her into a hug and nodded. Stacie cried on her shoulder and she looked at the ground.

"I think about them every day…" she whispered. She closed her eyes and cried against Aubreys shoulder. A gentle breeze blew past them.

"_Why won't you listen to me!" _She heard Lilly's voice in the wind "_You told me I should open up more! Why don't you do the same thing!"_

She recalled the soft fabric of Lilly's shirt against her fingertips as she remembered how she had pushed her.

"I'm so sorry, Lilly. I'm so, so sorry…"

* * *

_A/N: Please review!_

_April_


	33. Chapter 33: Never Let Me Go

_A/N: Hi. I've been getting questions about the Trebles and where they're at. They will return soon in the story! I've been wanting to include them again, but I've been waiting for the right moment, but we're getting there really soon! Thanks for reading and you'd be making me really happy if you post a review down below after!_

* * *

Chapter 33: _Never Let Me Go_

Aubrey and Stacie didn't walk their usual route this time. They had agreed that they knew the jungle better than Amy and Ashley, so they should be the ones that stayed close to home. Aubrey and Stacie would walk further away from the cave, looking for food and other supplies. They had been walking for a bit when Aubrey spoke up.

"Have you ever seen something like that?" she asked Stacie, referring to the state Beca was in.

"I mean, I have seen people hallucinating and stuff," Stacie admitted. "But those people were on drugs. If Beca is on drugs, have no idea what she took, so I don't know how long this will take."

"What do you mean how long it will take?"

"There are different kind of categories with hallucination inducing drugs. Some will only last for a few hours…"

"I hear a 'but' coming up and I don't like it."

"There are some drugs that are so strong, you won't find them at regular parties. They can be dangerous, Aubrey." Stacie said. "And not knowing what grows around here and how much she took, it can be really bad."

"How long are we talking about?"

"Days… Maybe weeks even."

Aubrey's face became pale.

"But the good thing is that she didn't overdose and killed herself." Stacie added. "No matter how long it will take, she should be getting back sometime."

"Should?"

Stacie hesitated. "Yes, there are some drugs that are so dangerous that only the mob uses them on their enemies. Some people never recover and could be suffering from long term effects like depression, aggression, mental confusion or paranoia."

Aubrey gasped.

"But," Stacie quickly added, "we don't know how dangerous it was what she took or how much she took, so let's just assume that when we get back tonight, she'll just be sleepy and tomorrow she'll be all back to normal."

"But what if she isn't?"

"We must worry about that later. It's no use to think that way. Let's just hope the best."

Aubrey nodded.

"She has been through a lot. We all have, Stace." she said. "What if she… What if she only experiences terrible things in her state? Maybe it will fuck up her mind. If it can be that intense as you say, I cannot imagine what she is seeing right now."

"Aubrey, there's nothing we can do right now." Stacie tried to assure her. "We can only keep feeding her and protecting her and hoping she will recover soon. This is out of our hands. We can only wait for what will happen."

"We need to hold on to that." Aubrey agreed.

"I'll never let her go, Aubrey. I love her too much." she sighed.

* * *

Beca wandered on the plains in the darkness. She had left the flames far behind her. There was nothing around her, only the brown soil. The skies casted a brownish purple glow over the soil she was walking on and the smoke above her.

_Was there really a gate with a way out of here?_ She wondered.

When she looked around her she didn't see a gate. But to be fair, she didn't see anything at all but empty fields. Being all alone for the first time in a while finally gave her time to think. With her hands shoved in her pockets, she thought about what had happened to them. About the people who had died. Were they here as well? She had seen Cynthia. Had she been engulfed by the flames? Is that why she had seen her at that moment? Hadn't she been able to reach the invisible wall?

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Her body was at that very moment feeling ice cold. She could feel freezing water running over her skin and drip down her throat until she was suffocating. The water was pitch black. It flushed through her nose and entered her eyes causing a burning pain. She felt like the water in her mouth was tearing her jaw off, as she felt her skin rip near her cheeks. The vision of her right eye disappeared when she felt a sharp object pierce right through it. With all strength in her body combined, she jumped forwards and landed on her knees. The hand on her shoulder had disappeared. She coughed and gasped for air. Her clothes were still dry, she noticed. When she turned around, she didn't see anyone standing behind her.

_Swoosh_.

"Don't look at me."

When Beca turned around again, she saw a blue figure standing a few feet away from her. Her body and clothes were emitting a bright blue light. She was wearing jeans, a blouse and boots and she had long blond hair, which was draped in curly locks over her back. She was facing away from Beca.

"I said don't look at me." the girl said again.

Beca, however, recognized her voice. She felt a spark of happiness flaming through her, but also of sadness.

"Jessica… Is that you?"

The figure only sighed, but Beca was sure it was her. She stepped forwards and tried to wrap her arms around her to hug her, but her arms went through her body like she was made of thick and cold syrup. When her skin touched the blue light that shaped her body, she felt the feeling of drowning again. She quickly, pulled back her hands.

"They say that after you die, you will feel the pain of your death for eternity." Jessica said softly. "That's not true. It's worse."

Beca wanted to comfort her but hesitated to touch her.

"Is there a way to get out of here together? That… creature was talking about a gate…"

The air was suddenly filled with an ice cold silence.

"I can't come with you."

"Why not? Maybe if we find the gate together we can-"

"I can't come with you. I'm dead already."

Jessica's eyes were covered by strands of her blond hair. She looked at the ground.

"Listen, Jessica…" Beca tried, still talking to her back "do you know where that gate is?"

"5 minutes together and you already want to leave me behind."

Beca sighed. "I need to get back. I have friends back there waiting for me."

"Beca, I am your friend too." she said, audibly hurt.

"I can't stay at this place…"

"Please tell me…" Jessica whispered "Are you doing this for your friends, or for yourself?"

"I need to return to the cave. My friends need me. Chloe needs me."

"Why?!" she suddenly turned around and shouted in her face. Her face was horribly misfigured and her jaw was hanging below her jawline and a bit of white foam dripped down the corner of her mouth. Her lips were a darker shade of blue than the rest of her body. Her eye was pierced by a large piece of glass. "After everything I've sacrificed for you! I died for you Beca! Even after death you don't treat me as your friend! What do I have to do to make you like me?!"

Beca felt a pricking pain in her chest. Her throat contracted and her tears welled up. She recognized this feeling as guilt. She should have been there for her, but she never was. And now she was dead and the thing gnawing her after her death is that they weren't friends. All because Beca had thought they weren't good enough to earn her trust. She was so, so sorry.

She stepped forward and embraced the light blue figure of Jessica. She acknowledged the pain and the fear that consumed her body again when she did.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered through her tears.

"Why can you not see me, Beca." Jessica whispered as she gave in into the hug.

Beca had the feeling she was embracing cold, salt water, as dense as syrup.

"I want to see you. But I have to go. You have to let me go."

"I don't want to let you go… You're all I have left…" Jessica cried.

"I can't stay here with you. Like you said, I'm not dead yet. There's still hope for me to get back to our friends. To tell them about you."

"I don't want you to tell them about me. They wouldn't care. They are alive and I am dead."

"We do care, Jessica. We talk about you every day. About you, about Cynthia, about Denise… We miss you so much… You were taken so quickly from us…" Beca's voice was shaking.

"Everyone else I've cared for is either still alive or is captured in the horrors down here. I have no one." Jessica felt Beca tremble in her arms. Her throat contracted trying to get the salt water out of her lungs. The muscles in her body screamed for air as she felt herself drowning just like Jessica had. Nevertheless, Beca didn't let her go.

"Please, I'm begging you…" Beca pleaded her through her sobs. She whimpered and gasped for air. Her lungs were burning and the muscles in her chest spasmed for oxygen. Her eye was burning and her vision blurred. She knew she was losing consciousness, but she couldn't let her go. This was Jessica's choice to make. Either she would let her go. Or she would die right there.

Her lungs filled with oxygen again as she gasped in the air around her. She heard Jessica's cry of sorrow as Beca tumbled to the ground into a small puddle of water. Beca sat down on her knees and moved her hands through the water. She didn't touch any flesh or bones, just the clearest water she had ever seen. Her fists smashed down into the puddle as she cried out. Her arms laid down in front of her in the water, she laid her head down on the soil.

"_Never let me go, Beca._" she heard a faint whisper.

She looked up at the sky and saw a small beam of sunshine cast through the smoke on the puddle and on her face.

She felt how the water vanished below her fingers and first she cried out, but stopped when she saw a small green twig grow from the soil. She observed breathlessly how the small green branch grew until it had reached the size of her hand and had grown leaves. It stopped growing and at the end of the branch the small bud opened and showed the beautiful head of a dandelion.

"I won't forget you, Jessica."

The dandelion flower head dried out. The dried petals and stamens dropped off and the flower head transformed into a spherical blowball in the purest white. Carefully, Beca snapped the stem of the flower and held it between her thumb and index finger. For the first time since she had been here, she fell a soft, but pleasant breeze blew past her. The flower seeds were detached by the wind and were carried away from her, leaving a grey bud on the stem. The seeds were carried up in a spiral in direction of the sunbeam, which blinded Beca as she tried to watch them fly away.

"We'll never let you go, Jessica. _I promise_."


	34. Chapter 34: Dust To Dust

Chapter 34: _Dust To Dust_

Not knowing how much time passed or how far she had walked, she saw that the rock hard ground slowly became softer. The hard ground was crumbling into rocks, small stones, gravel and when she walked even further into sand. It felt soft between her toes as she noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes.

In the distance, there was ink black water steadily flowing on the sandy shore. Small waves created a soft rushing sound like the sea's only difference between this shore and the sea's, is that there were no other sounds: No wind and no seagulls. But when Beca walked to the shoreline, she heard two children giggling. Their light blue spirits, a girl and a boy, were sitting in the sand close to the water. They could not be older than 3 years old. The girl was wearing a small straw hat with a ribbon and a cute flower patterned dress. The boy was a blonde, wearing shorts and small sandals. Their tiny hands were grabbing the sand around them, and placing it on the hill between them. Every time the waves took away a part of their sand castle, they laughed and replaced the sand in the missing part. Their laughter sounded distant, almost like it was just a thought. When Beca called out for them, they didn't answer. Their motions were on a loop or so it seemed.

Slowly, Beca walked towards them and touched the boy on his shoulder. She felt very happy and calm at first, but felt a sudden flash of pain piercing through her head as a bullet was shot right through it. It hurt at first, but she felt only numb after.

"These children were shot by their psychopath mother after a day on the beach." Beca heard a very, very familiar voice say from her left.

* * *

It was early in the afternoon. Chloe just had finished tidying up the place while she watched Beca closely as she slept. Exhausted, she dropped next to her. Chloe saw her eyes shift behind her eyelids. It was good Beca was so tired she could sleep this thing out, Chloe thought. She tenderly brushed a strand of hair from Beca's face. She laid herself softly down next to her and hugged her friend. _I'm so lucky to have someone like her in my life_. She might as well take a quick nap as there was nothing left for her to do.

She woke by the sound of Aubrey's voice.

"We're home."

Judging by the color of the light cast through the cave, it was somewhere near the end of the afternoon.

"Hey there." Chloe greeted them.

"How's Beca?" Stacie asked.

"She's been asleep the whole day." Chloe answered. "How's your shoulder?"

"Still hurts like a bitch."

* * *

Beca looked next to her and saw her naked self standing on the same sand as her. But there was something different about this Beca standing in front. She somehow seemed… Darker than she remembered herself, like there was a black glow overshadowing her.

"Who… Who are you?" she asked looking at the girls missing belly button.

"Holy shit, are you serious? I'm you, dumbass. Or I'm the you that feeds on your misery."

"Can you get me out of here?" Beca tried.

Öh, so now you want help? No longer want to be the independent leader of the group?"

"I can't do this anymore. I only want to help them, but it's getting too much."

"And look what mess you got us into." the girl continued. "And when you got the leadership you tricked people into thinking that you actually give a shit about them."

"I do care!" The real Beca protested. "That's why I tried to help everyone!"

"By telling them what they want to hear? You were just looking for an excuse for them to be nice to you because you can't make friends on your own."

"That's not true. Chloe is my friend. And Stacie is too-"

"Chloe only likes you because you're pretty, not because of your personality. And Stacie only uses you as a fuck pillow. It's because you're not like-able, sweetheart."

"That's… That's not true." Beca said softly. She tried to hold back the tears but she felt very small.

"Stop trying to convince yourself. Please, stop acting so pathetic. You let a trail of death and suffering behind you."

"That was not my fault, you son of a bitch!" Beca snapped angrily.

"Don't talk about our mom like that" the girl mocked. "We're the same person after all."

"We're nothing alike…"

"But we are…" the girl laughed. She walked around Beca, playfully brushing her fingertips over the side of her neck.

"What about the times that it was your fault? Like you bitching Chloe away which resulted in Lilly's death?"

"That was not my fault, or Chloe's." Beca felt a sob escape her throat as she spoke when she thought about the event.

"Why do you keep protecting her?" The girl said in wonder.

"Because she… she's my best friend."

'Which you kissed and married out of pity just as she wanted. You're letting her bully you. She's almost better in guilt-tripping you than I am. It's called Stockholm Syndrome, sweetie. But you wouldn't know, because you don't care. Guess you'll have to learn the hard way…"

"Shut up!" Beca shouted. "I'm not listening anymore!"

"I'd be more scared of Chloe killing us than any of the Trebles." the girl that was supposed to be her continued nevertheless. "Do you really think she is our friend? You're so stupid! I'm so embarrassed we have the same name."

The girl stopped walking when she stood in front of her. Much to Beca's dislike, she put her hands on her head and pulled her closer. But Beca couldn't move away, it was like her body felt numb when she was touched by the girl. The girl firmly pressed her lips on Beca's and at that very moment, Beca felt their bodies melt together and form one. The world became black and she felt like she lost consciousness as the girl's hysterical laughter echoed in her head.

* * *

"I really think you broke something, so you have to keep wearing the sling for a little longer until we get rescued." Chloe decided after inspecting Stacie's shoulder.

Before Aubrey and Stacie could say something, Beca stirred in her sleep. Chloe shifted her attention to Beca, while Stacie laid her sore arm in the strap around her neck.

"Hey, Becs. Are you awake?"

Beca groaned and stirred again. Suddenly, her eyes shot open and stared right at her.

* * *

At that very moment the real Beca regained her vision and saw herself lying in the cave with the three girls surrounding her. But it wasn't herself lying on front of the kneeled Chloe. It was the Dark Beca staring right through Chloe.

But when Beca tried to move or to speak to warn them, she couldn't move or make a sound. She was a spectator of what was about to happen.

* * *

"Woah…" Chloe stammered at the sudden awakening. "Hey how are you feeling?"

But Beca didn't answer. She only sat up and looked around her before her eyes locked on Chloe. The redhead turned to the other girls to look at them questioningly when suddenly Beca jumped up and grabbed Chloe from behind. Her arm was pressed tightly around her neck as she was trying to choke her.

"You destroyed my life, Chloe!" Beca yelled at her.

Chloe tried to wriggle her fingers between her neck and Beca's arm to get some air, but she was incredibly strong. She felt her throat contract by the pressure and she gasped for oxygen.

Stace tried to pull her arm down as well. Beca, however, was too strong and too angry to let go of her and Stacie was only able to use one arm. Aubrey tried pulling as well, but it was like Beca had gained inhuman strength as her arm only contracted more around her friend's neck the more they pulled. Chloe started to get light headed fast and started to lose the struggle, when Stacie heard the clicking sound of a loading gun. Aubrey had grabbed the gun from between her belt and her jeans. When she looked at Aubrey, she saw her pointing the gun at Beca's head and preparing for the shot.

"What are you doing?!" Stacie asked. "You can't shoot her!"

"Stacie, get out of my way!" Aubrey said sternly. "She's too strong to stop her. We have to save Chloe. And ourselves."

* * *

The real Beca felt her hot tears wet her cheeks as she saw what happened. She struggled desperately for release as she was forced to watch the event from above, but her surroundings were like quicksand, pulling harder at her the more she fought it. She couldn't really blame Aubrey though. If she had to be killed in order to save them, it had to be. She had to save Chloe.

* * *

Chloe didn't get anything of what was going on around her, as she was trying to fight back and to stay consciousness. Her limbs were heavy and she felt herself losing the strength in her body fast.

"No! Don't do this!" Stacie turned to Beca, gently cupped her face with her hand and turned her face towards hers. "Beca, please, I know you're in there somewhere. Please, let Chloe go, she hasn't done anything wrong. I'm begging you-"

* * *

_I'm so sorry…_ Beca thought as she cried. _Save Chloe. Please… I can't live like this if she doesn't make it. She's the one that needs to get out of here. Please Aubrey... _She closed her eyes for the bullet that was about to come.

* * *

"Stacie, get out of my way, I'll kill her if I need to!" Aubrey warned.

Stacie stayed in between Beca and Aubrey and begged her again to let go, tears streaming down her face. Aubrey stepped aside to aim again at Beca's head. Her hands trembled when she put her finger on the cold trigger.

"Beca… we need you." it was barely a whisper Stacie cried.

When a loud bang filled the cave and both Chloe's and Beca's body fell on the cold floor, Stacie's scream echoed between the stone walls.


	35. Chapter 35: The Sight of Change

Chapter 35: The _Sight of Change is Darkness_

Never in her whole life Aubrey Posen thought she would pull the trigger on someone. She had only been a few feet away when she had pulled the trigger. The bang had echoed through the cave and pierced her ears. Aubrey was sure when she closed her eyes in a reflex, that that would be the last sound she would ever hear. It was as if she had died. She had shot herself. She had shot her dignity and everything she had ever fought for. Beca had been a Bella. Not only a Bella, she had become her friend. When she heard the blast echo in her head, long after the shot had fired, everything their home had become quiet. Aubrey's old skin popped of her new one and she spread it around her like a cat losing its fur. Or more accurate, like a snake losing its skin and showing off the new one.

Everything had changed. Beca had been her friend. Through her closed eyes, she suddenly felt Beca's arms around her in a memory of how she had grabbed her when she taught her to swim. Aubrey breathed out, trying to shake the feeling. But the arms around her waist were replaced by a small hand on her shoulder. She could tell by counting the rings on the hand that it was Beca's. And even that hand was replaced by a pair of soft lips on hers, blowing the life back into her when she had drowned after the crash. She hadn't forgotten about it, she remembered all of it. Her hand let go of the still smoking gun when she felt Beca's hand, pulling her up on a large rock when they had been looking for a place to sleep. She didn't hear the soft thud of the gun falling on the stone.

She had never really thanked her. Beca had saved her life, and she had never mentioned it. Beca had always done her best for the Bellas. Yes, she could be stubborn, but Aubrey had never appreciated anything she had done good. No matter how bossy she had been, Beca had helped her through the rough times on the island. Beca had comforted her when she had cried outside the cave when she couldn't sleep. They had stayed there for hours and hours, talking until she finally fell asleep with her back rested against the grassy outside wall of their home. No matter how she didn't want to admit it, Beca had become their leader. She had been in charge when she couldn't. She wasn't strong enough to carry on with her task on this place. They, but especially she, owed Beca so much. She was the one keeping them together.

When she forced open her eyes, she saw both Chloe and Beca had collapsed on the floor. Stacie was kneeled next to Chloe, trying to calm her down and helping her to breath. Aubrey tried to shut off the ringing in her ears and to snap out of trance. She felt her heart beating inside her throat as she looked at Beca's body. Chloe was screaming all kinds of things at her best friend, but Aubrey didn't hear her. Stacie hold her down, trying to stop her from jumping up and attacking Aubrey and telling her to catch her breath first. They were both crying, causing Chloe to hyperventilate. Stacie forced her back on the ground as sobs racked her body.

Aubrey's eyes were fixed on the body in front of her. But when she looked closely, she found herself looking at the girl's chest. It seemed to rise and fall very slowly, but steadily. That movement of the body seemed to help Aubrey snap out of her trance, when suddenly all the sounds of Chloe's screams and Stacie's cries kicked in. She took a few quick steps and dropped next to Beca, checking her pulse.

"She's alive…" she stammered as she stared at her head where there must have been a hole caused by a bullet. Her fingers brushed over the stone where there should have been a puddle of blood, caused by her brains being ripped apart by a small piece of metal. There was nothing, nothing but the steady breathing of a suddenly again unconsciousness Beca.

"She's alive!"

* * *

They checked a dozen times if it was really true. They checked her breathing, her pulse and her pupils over and over again. Of course, they were overjoyed that their friend wasn't dead, but it also raised an uncertainty. Everyone was sure Aubrey had shot Beca. She had collapsed on the ground. It was a riddle to figure out what actually happened. That's why Aubrey went looking for the bullet. However, the little piece of metal was nowhere to be found. Guessing that she must have somehow missed her head, it must have hit the stone behind her. But there was no hole or sign of damage to the wall. On the place the bullet must have impact, there was a sentence written with charcoal.

'_Looking for heaven_' was written in black, slightly crooked.

'_Found the Devil in me._' was written below in a different handwriting, that Aubrey found very familiar but didn't recognize it. She slightly faded the coal when she brushed her thumb across it.

"It's not here." She said and she dropped down next to Chloe again. "Chlo' are you sure you are okay?"

Chloe stared in front of her with blank eyes, rubbing her already bruising skin on her neck.

"Chloe?" Stacie asked.

"Hm… what?" she asked absentmindedly.

"Are you okay?" Aubrey asked again.

"How could you, Aubrey?" she asked, slightly raising her voice, but her face showed pain when she did.

"I… I wanted to protect you."

"By killing one of us? What are you? Insane?!" Stacie asked angrily. "What kind of captain are you?!"

By hearing that she broke down and started crying. Aubrey had always been very careful with letting herself go, trying to keep herself together as good as she could. But at this very moment, she wasn't able to. She curled up in a ball and she cried vehemently, her lips and hands shivering. Stacie attempt to stay angry failed miserably when she saw her friend like this. She pulled her into her arms, trying to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry…" she cried.

"Me too." Chloe plainly said. "I don't know what to think anymore."

* * *

Dinner a few moments later with the remaining Bellas passed by in utter silence. The catch had been poor, as Amy and Ashley were not experienced in hunting at all. No one was hungry however anyways. It had barely gotten dark when they decided to go to sleep, which was difficult. Beca had slept the whole day so couldn't sleep anymore and they had to prevent her from doing something and going somewhere.

"I need to feed the crows." she said absentmindedly.

"I know sweetie, I know." Stacie whispered. She had offered to watch over the girl so Chloe could get some rest.

"Let me go, my crows are hurt..."

Stacie just nodded, while she pressed Beca's body down again.

"You know how I can differ mine from the other's?" she suddenly giggled. "Mine is blacker than the others, her feathers are drenched with my blood."

She shot up and laughed hysterically.

"Aubrey might think she killed her, but she only scared her off for now!"

"Beca, get down!" Stacie said sternly as she tried to control her friend.

"Snakes!" Beca whispered suddenly, her facial expression looked terrified. "There's a snake coming… and a rat… we need to go… go now!"

Beca had drawn so much attention, no one looked at the crack in the wall that served as a door.

"Well well… look who we have here!" they heard a deep voice, which unmistakably belonged by Bumper.

* * *

"They're here…" Beca whispered. She curled up in a ball and put her hands on her hair, protecting her hair.

"We heard a gunshot…" he continued, brushing his fingers over the stone walls. "And decided we would…" he suddenly looked directly at Chloe "... check it out."

"Stay away from her!" Aubrey said as she stepped in front of her. Chloe looked pale and tried not panic.

"Stay away from all of us." Aubrey said daringly as she stepped in front of the girls. She was their Captain. She would protect them. This is what she had signed up for when she got the Captain Scarf a year ago. These girls were her sisters she was protecting. They were family.

When she reached to grab the gun she had tucked behind her belt on her back, Greg pointed a rifle and put the end of the gun against Stacie's head. Said girl slowly put her hands above her head and she looked at the floor.

"Don't even think about it, or your friend won't see another sunrise ever again." he said seriously.

Aubrey put her hands above her head as well to show she wasn't planning anything.

"We know what you did to her." she said quickly, nodding at Chloe.

"We only hold her captive…" he smiled. "She deserved that. After she confessed to-"

"You raped her!" That caused the remaining of the Trebles uneasily shift their positions.

"Wow, that's quite an accusation…" he said, he pretended to be shocked. "To make when you weren't even there. It's her word against mine."

"You dog!" Chloe cried out. She wanted to jump at them and beat them up, but she knew she couldn't without the chance of Stacie getting hurt.

"And you!" she pointed accusingly at Jesse. "How can you ever live with yourself knowing what you did?!"

Jesse didn't look her in the eye, but stared at the ground.

"Look at me, Jesse!" she yelled. This caused Greg to tense up and moving the gun closer to Stacie's head. Jesse's scared eyes shot up and looked at Chloe.

"Is this true guys?" Unicycle said disgusted.

"Of course it isn't!" Bumper protested immediately before Jesse could respond.

Chloe screamed in anger and agony, catching the Trebles off guard and Greg to lose his focus on the gun for a few moments. Amy, who was just standing a few feet next to him, seized the moment and pushed the gun away from Stacie towards the ceiling. Greg, scared, pulled the trigger and fire into the stone above them, startling the birds that rushed out the stone encampment for safety. Aubrey grabbed her gun, loaded it and pointed it at Bumper before anyone could respond.

"Nobody moves!" she screamed.

Beca whimpered, still curled up in a ball, muttering unintelligible things. Slowly, Bumper put his hands up in his turn.

"The tables have been turned!" Amy cheered.

"Have they?" Bumper carefully asked. He stepped towards Aubrey's raised gun.

"Don't come any closer!"

"Make me." he replied.

Aubrey's hands were trembling. "You raped my best friend. You abused us like dogs."

"I dare you… shoot me."

Aubrey grabbed the gun with two hands, to show him that she would, but they both knew that she couldn't. She could never end someone's life that God himself had created. What happened to Beca had been an accident, an act of panic.

Bumper knew this as well. He started laughing and mocking her in the face.

"Shoot me!"

Aubrey felt so incredibly hot that she might pass out. Her skin was itching and felt dry. Her body was shaking to get rid of the feeling.

"Run!" she commanded the Bella's. "Someone take Beca, We need to get out."

Greg moved a bit. "But don't think about moving or I will shoot him." Bumper only laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Stacie sneered. "Shoot the fucker!"

"We're not safe if we stay here." Chloe said as she dragged Beca on her feet, putting her arm around her neck.

"We have to stay together." Amy said.

Together, they moved to the entrance of the cave, still keeping the gun pointed to Bumper. When they were outside, they casted a final look at the stone that had been their home. Without further thinking, they ran for it.

They heard Bumper's laugh echo through the night: "Get them guys!"

* * *

Outside, it had gone completely dark. Chloe ran to the edge of the forest, carrying the stribbling Beca with her arm around her neck. She looked behind her and saw a few of the Trebles running out of the cave, mockingly crying out their battle cries. She tried to increase her speed, but Beca was too heavy. She ran after Aubrey, who was only a few feet in front of her. And while the said girl looked behind her regularly, the distance between them increased over time.

"Aubrey!" she screamed, but the blonde did not seem to hear her. She tried to catch up, but a few moments later, she was gone. With every step she took, the girl hanging on her shoulders was getting heavier. She put her down and hold her hand to prevent her from running away.

"Beca! Beca… I know that you're here and I need you to help me…" She begged. "Please… Please, I need you to run on your own, but stay close to me. I can't do this on my own."

Beca looked at her, and it almost looked like she was back. But her dilated pupils betrayed her real state of mind. For a moment, she was listening and wasn't fighting against her friend. She had run out of air in exhaustion and panted softly to catch her breath. Chloe started running again, taking Beca with her who, thankfully, was able to run herself. But suddenly, Beca stopped and stood motionlessly. Their hands disconnected by the sudden change of speed of one of them. Beca looked at her as if she saw the devil.

"Beca… Please…" the devil begged.

But Beca turned around and ran away from her. She freaked out and grasped for her hand in desperation, but she was nowhere to be found. When she tried chasing her, she could not find her caused by the darkness. Suddenly, realization struck her like lightning: she had lost Beca. She had lost Aubrey. She was alone. Again.

"BECA?!"

* * *

Aubrey and Stacie arrived on the beach, both exhausted and trying to catching their breaths. The beach was different from the beach they had been to when they stranded there. The sand was illuminated by the moon, but the jungle still looked scary and dark even in the light. Aubrey tried looking through the vegetation.

"Chloe?! Chloe, where are you!"

"She was right behind you, wasn't she?" Stacie asked, still panting. "Where is everybody?"

"She must have lost me…" Aubrey shook her head. She took a few steps in the direction of the jungle.

"What do you think you're doing? You can't go back there!"

"What if they got to her, Stacie? Can you live with that?"

"We can't do anything for her."

"I can't fail her. Not again."

She sighed. "If you're going, then I'm going with you."

Aubrey shook her head. "I want you to stay here, this is the most logical place to meet and you need to gather and protect everyone who get's out of the forest here. Amy and Ashley could be here any second."

"But…"

"Stacie, I really really need you. I cannot do this without your help."

"But I'm scared." Stacie said while looking at her in the eye. Her bottom lip was trembling.

"I know sweetie, I know... " Aubrey pulled her in for a hug. "Me too."

"Promise me you'll come back." she said, a tear escaping and rolling down her cheek.

"I'll be back when the sun comes up, I promise." she said, brushing her thumb over the wet stream ending on her jaw. They were still standing close to each other, breathing in each other, seeing each other fully. Aubrey pressed her gun in Stacie's hand and wrapped the other girl's fingers around it.

"Please, be careful." she whispered.

Stacie only cried. "I can't lose you, Aubrey." Another tear fell from her eye. Aubrey cupped her face with her hands and brought her face to hers, resting her forehead on hers. They both closed their eyes as their noses brushed against the other's. Slowly, Aubrey closed the distance between them and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I promise." she whispered breathlessly. Before Stacie could respond, she turned around and disappeared in the jungle. Stacie stared at the spot where the girl just had disappeared. Then she moved her gaze to the gun in her hand while the fingers on the other traced the kiss with her fingers.

"AUBREY!"

* * *

Aubrey didn't hear her as thoughts were racing through her head. She only heard her own faint breaths as she run, looking for her friend. She looked frantically around her, but did not see anything but darkness. The trees around her grew taller and rose high above her. The air around her became denser and warmer. The thick darkness was suffocating her. It was creeping into every pore of her body, into her mouth and into her nose. Suddenly she was hit by a force from the side. She fell to the ground, the force keeping her down. As she tried to block her fall, her head hit a rock and she felt blood seeping over her face from a gash on her forehead. She recognized a knee in the force that was pressed into her back. Her arms were forced behind her back. She didn't fight it as she tried to remain conscious. Darkness had won. Everything became blurry when she heard a voice from above her.

"I got one of them, guys!"

* * *

_A/N: please let me know if you're still reading these chapters. It keeps me motivated to write more if it seems I have an actual audience._

_April._


	36. Chapter 36: Heartbeat

_A/N: This chapter is extra long, to say thank you to the ones that left a review. Thank you guys, you keep me motivated!. I'm sorry it takes me too long to update, I'm trying my best._

* * *

Chapter 36: _Heartbeat_

Joseph was running on his own through the forest. He still didn't know if he was supporting this idea, so he did not run fast or looked well around him for he didn't know what he had to do if he found one of the Bella's. He put his hands in his pockets as he slowed his step and walked through the woods. If he only would stay gone long enough, everyone would think that he had been searching as well. He wiped his forehead with his tank top as it still was incredibly hot. He had seen a change in Bumper's attitude when they had found the Bella's. This was the same Bumper who had humiliated the Bella's before they had run off. This was another person than the person who had taken care of them for weeks. And honestly, this Bumper scared the crap out of him.

He suddenly heard a soft sound, a sobbing sound coming from his right. Slowly, he walked over to the source of the sound. It was still hard to see what was lying 10 feet before him, but he could make out shades and recognized the figure of a woman sitting against a tree with her legs curled up to her chest. Her head was rested against her knees. Joseph's heart pounded faster now he had found a Bella, even if he didn't know which one it was. What should he do? Should he capture her? Force her back to the new camp against her will? That thought disgusted him. He had changed when he got here, but he had not sunk that low. Should he just walk by and pretend he didn't see her? But what if another one of them would find her and was captured anyways? No, that could not happen on his watch. If he could rescue her, he would.

When he took a step closer, a twig snapped under his weight. The girl's head shot up and he looked into her eyes. Her whole body was trembling in fear. Her breathing became hoarse and faltered in panic.

"Hey… Easy… I'm not here to hurt you." he said softly.

"Please don't take me… I can't… I-..." she cried.

"I'm not going to take you." he said as he came closer, but that only scared the girl more.

"I can't go back to your camp… Please… If you're gonna take me, please kill me…"

"Hey, I'm not gonna take you. And I'm definitely not going to kill you." he dropped on his knees in front of her. "But others might, so we need to get you to a safe place."

"I don't believe you… Please, kill me if you want to, but please don't rape me again…"

"What are you talking about?"

"Bumper… And Jesse… They…"

"Did they really rape you?" he said softly.

"They did. When you and the others were gone."

"Listen, I'm not going to harm you. I'm gonna get you back to the others. I know the others treated you bad, but please understand," he sighed, "I would never, ever hurt you."

"Promise?"

"I swear… Please, I'm Joseph." he said offering her his hand. "The Trebles call me Unicycle, but that's just a nickname."

The girl shook his hand.

"You're Chloe right?" he asked. Chloe nodded. "Can you stand? Are you injured?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"We all need something watching over us."

* * *

About an hour later, Stacie was still waiting on the beach. She was sitting down, next to Ashley and Amy who had found her and they were all looking for signs of the missing girls. Of course, Stacie had not told the other girls what had happened before Aubrey had left. But that didn't mean that what happened did not repeat over and over in her head. They had all decided that they would look for them if they hadn't returned by daybreak.

When Stacie heard something coming from the forest, she stood up and pointed her gun at the source of the sound. Amy and Ashley moved behind her.

"Aubrey, is that you?"

But instead of Aubrey, Chloe walked out of the vegetation, being supported by Joseph. But instead of putting the gun away, Stacie pointed the gun at the Treble.

"You! Stay away from her!"

He raised his hands. "You're getting the wrong impression here. I brought her here."

"Just so you could take us all to your Treble buddies."

"No, no, not at all." Joseph sounded a bit offended. "Look, Chloe told me what happened and I do not at all approve what Bumper and Jesse have done. I'm on your side."

"Prove it." Amy said, still suspicious.

"He's telling the truth, he helped me." Chloe said softly.

He turned around and lifted his top a bit to show his waist.

"See, I'm unarmed."

When Stacie put her gun away, Chloe ran towards her and hugged her.

"Are you okay, Chlo'?"

"Where's the rest of the group?" she asked concerned.

"Aubrey…" she said, but didn't finish her sentence.

"Aubrey went looking for you." Ashley said plainly.

"But where is Beca, she was with you wasn't she?"

Chloe hesitated. "I… I lost her."

* * *

Moments later, they were sitting on the beach together with Joseph, discussing what they had all went through the last couple months.

"... So life has been generally good in the Trebles camp. Bumper calmed down eventually after you escaped." he looked at Chloe.

"But what the hell is wrong with him! Why does he hates us so much…"

"I think that this has to be about domination… I heard from stories that he had a very difficult childhood. Now he is on his own he needs to be in control of someone, anybody."

"But isn't this extreme?!" Amy said.

"I know it is and I'm not defending him or anything, I'm just trying to understand his voice of reason."

"Do explain, because I don't see it."

"Look, ever when we were back home, he always has been the bossy one. He was very suppressed by anyone in his family, his mother, his father, his brothers as he is the youngest. Like, not somewhat suppressed, but _really_ suppressed. Ever since he moved out and came to Barden, he felt the need to prove himself to himself. To prove that he was able to take control. That he _is_ controlling something, so the people around him. So when the crash happened he felt like he had to regain control of the situation."

"I've heard from people that he started hating you when Bumper was coronated as the new Treble leader at the party last year. Something happened to a Treble, John."

Chloe felt her heart drop when she thought about that party. They had all been there: the Trebles, the Bellas, the High Notes and the BU harmonics. They were celebrating the last few weeks of the semester, with also the finals of the competition somewhere the week after the party.

"_Do we really need to go?" Chloe whined. "Can't we just stay home and have a movie night or something?"_

"_Uh-uh." Aubrey said putting on her flawless makeup "we need to be there to show the Trebles we're not going down without a fight."_

"_But can't we do that, like, during finals?" she sighed "Why do we need to do that at a party."_

"_Just because! And if we go, I might get even closer with the captain so she will give me the captain scarf when she leaves in a few weeks."_

_Chloe rolled her eyes._

"_Please, don't bail on me." Aubrey begged._

"_Fine."_

"_Now, let's get you in something more… impressing." she pointed at the sweatpants her friend was wearing._

"_You're lucky I'm such a good friend." Chloe mocked her._

_A few hours later, they found themselves dancing in the yard of the Trebles house. Some people were swimming inside the small pool in the back. Music blasted through the enormous speakers on a table._

"_I still can't believe they got this house when they first won the championships!" Chloe tried to say to her friend, but the music was too loud._

"_I think I see Claire, give me a sec." Chloe said and she left. Aubrey watched her friend leave for the table with drinks, when she heard a voice behind her._

"_Hi, you're Aubrey right?"_

_When she turned around, she looked into a pair of sparkling green eyes. The locks of his dark brown hair were held from his face with pomade in some modern pompadour haircut. A matching dark brown stubble was fixed around his smile showing his perfect white teeth. The muscular guy in front of her was wearing a plain black sweater on his ripped jeans._

"_Hello?" he smiled and waved his hand in front of her eyes._

"_Hi…" Aubrey stammered. "Hi, I'm sorry." she blinked a few times. _

"_I don't believe I introduced myself properly before with all this competition going on between our teams." he joked. "I'm John."_

"_Aubrey." she said as she shook his hand. "You're a Treble?"_

"_Definitely." Aubrey's stomach dropped. "So how come you never get to solo?"_

"_Oh, I am actually soloing for the first time next finals." He looked impressed._

_Aubrey was pushed by some guy who wanted to pass her, so she fell forward, spilling her drink on herself and over John who caught her from falling._

"_Oh my God, I'm so sorry."_

"_Don't worry about it." he laughed. "I'll get you another drink, what did you have?" _

_Soda, she wanted to answer, but she did not want to be that kind of girl at a party._

"_Anything's fine." And with those words he left to get her a drink._

_When she turned around she stood face to face with Chloe._

"_Oh my aca-Gee, was that cute guy John talking to you?!" she asked excitedly._

"_Yes and no, Chlo, he's a Treble, I can't."_

"_Ugh, stupid oath." Chloe complained. "You really need to get laid."_

"_Who needs to get laid?" they heard John's deep voice behind them. "I'm joking, who are you?"_

"_Hi, I'm Chloe." She said. He quickly put the three drinks in his left hand so he could shake her hand with his right._

"_John." he said "So when I saw you talking to miss pretty over here, I decided I'd get you a drink as well." Aubrey blushed._

"_Alright." Chloe tried to sound cool when she looked at the dark blue drink in her hands "What is it?"_

"_It's my special mix, called 'John's secret'. The secret won't come out until you chug the drink."_

_Aubrey glanced over at Chloe, who just shrugged._

"_Cheers." he said as he drank the liquid in one gulp. John crushed the plastic red cup in his fist and threw it over his left shoulder. Aubrey and Chloe did the same._

"_Alright, now let's party!"_

_A few hours later, Chloe found herself dancing on a table with some girl from the High Notes. Her vision was blurry, although she did not drink much alcohol, as the Bella's captain had prohibited now the finals were coming up. She did not remember how she had gotten there or what had happened between their encounter with John and the girl she was now grinding against, but she felt fantastic. She had the impression she could take over the world, together with… Where was Aubrey?_

_Aubrey was heavily making out with John. He grinned as she clumsily tried to stay on her feet. There was a part of her brain telling her this was wrong, but the major part of her brain could not resist the temptation. She did not remember anything what had happened and what was happening she could not comprehend. She felt John's hands roaming from her butt to her breasts. But his movements were aggressive and he was hurting her with his strong grip. But her mind did not let her protest._

"_Why don't we continue this upstairs?" he said nipping her earlobe._

"_Yes" she said. "No." She thought._

_She did not resist when John guided her to the stairs, pushing their way through the crowd. When Aubrey glanced to the toilet, the door was standing open. A red haired girl was sitting on her knees, puking her guts out. Her mind was too corrupted to see that that girl was her best friend Chloe._

_Chloe did however recognize her friend, although she was on the verge of passing out. She saw Aubrey leaving with that boy and somehow, in her clouded brain, she made the connection that that was wrong. They were not supposed to hook up. Something was terribly wrong. She tried to stand up, but she immediately collapsed again. The feeling of euphoria had disappeared and she was panicking now. She had to get to Aubrey. _

_On her hands and her knees she tried to climb the stairs, but her limbs resisted. Her eyes fell on a pair of candles standing on the stand in the hallway, that spread their fiery glow across the walls._

_Meanwhile, John had locked the door behind them. He was drunk, but not too drunk to forget what he was doing. He was undressing Aubrey quickly until she was left in her underwear._

"_No…" she stammered. "I don't want to do this."_

_But her body did not match her words. She did not resist when John pushed her onto the bed. He got rid of his sweater and his pants, before he laid himself on top of her.  
_"_What did you do to me?" Aubrey slurred._

"_It's gonna be okay." he shushed her and he kissed her again. "Don't talk now. This won't hurt a bit… You'll never be a Bella again."_

"_FIRE!" someone shouted from the first floor. Immediately John got up and looked around. "FIRE! EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!"_

_This moment of panic, Aubrey jumped up from the bed and took a, surprisingly, quick sprint to the bathroom. When she saw John behind her, she quickly locked the door._

"_Aubrey! Let me in!" She heard him scream faintly. "Goddammit Aubrey!"_

Everything made sense. "_You see, I never liked you. I never liked you, Aubrey, I never liked the little dyke group you are pretending to be." He raised his voice again. "AND YOU GUYS SCREWED THINGS UP EVEN MORE. THAT. Is. Crazy." _Chloe remembered Bumper screaming to her and Aubrey. "_IT'S YOUR FAULT IT HAPPENED LAST YEAR! DON'T DENY IT YOU CUNT!" _

"His death wasn't our fault." she said. "Someone tipped over the candles, the fire was an accident."

"I wasn't there." Joseph said. "But Bumper said that he saw you near the candles when it happened. But he also said that Aubrey locked him up on purpose. He's convinced that you set fire to the house to harm the reputation of the Trebles. John's death was just a convenient side effect."

"That's… That's not true." she said. But honestly, what happened that night was a blur. She did not remember what she had done. They had found traces of Rohypnol in their blood when they got checked the day after. That was the only reason they were not kicked out of the Bellas. But nothing could be done when the culprit was dead.

"Bumper thinks it is and he has been angry at you both ever since."

* * *

About an hour before the sun came up, Joseph decided to go back to the cave.

"Why do you want to go back?" Chloe asked.

"I still have people there who I care about." he answered. "And I need to make sure if there are not any of you hold by us."

This is how at sunrise, he arrived at the cave again. Everyone else had already came back before him and they greeted him.

"Welcome to our new home, Uni!" Greg said. "Look at the beds the girls made, this is amazing! We have everything, fresh water, beds, shelter for the rain…"

Joseph's breath faltered when he saw the unconscious blonde laying on the ground with her hands and feet tied together with tape. There was dried blood on her forehead from a gash above her eyebrow.

"Oh her!" Greg said excited "this is the best part! We got her! We got the captain!"

He glanced over to his best friend Donald, who caught his gaze while he was talking. He quickly said something and stood up and walked towards Joseph.

"I'll see you later." Joseph said to Greg and he understood that he needed to leave.

"What's wrong Jo?" Donald asked. Joseph started walking outside, so they could talk privately.

"What's wrong? Think about that unconscious girl lying there, dude!"

"Chill man, we're only keeping her to force the Bella's to surrender." he said.

"Do you hear what you're saying?" he said angrily. "We're keeping her to force the Bella's to surrender?"

Donald only looked at him questioningly.

"Did you find a Bella, Donald?" Joseph said eventually.

"No, I did not."

"Well, I did and the girl was fucking terrified that I was about to rape and torture her!"

"Wait, you found another Bella?" Donald asked, lowering his voice.

"Listen to me." he said seriously. "Jesse and Bumper raped the girl…"

"That's bullshit, Jo, and you know it."

"It does explain why I saw the most horrified woman I've seen in my life. She begged me to kill her instead of doing something to her. I'm telling you, she has been tortured by them. This is not fooling around anymore, or keeping her to force surrender. This," he pointed to the unconscious girl, "this is what a girl looks like when she gets found by the police in the abductor's cellar. What is happening here, is changing all of us. The girl I found looked at me as if was a psycho killer-rapist. This is not who I am, dude. This not who we are." He was angry that his friend did not believe him.

"Do you trust me?" he eventually asked. Donald nodded.

"Then trust me if I tell you that hunting them and keeping them like animals is not humane."

They did not speak for a moment as Donald let the words sink in.

"So imagine that it is true. I'm not saying that it is, I'm only saying it because you're my friend. What do you want me to do?"

* * *

Beca woke up at some time in the morning. Of course, it was raining. She found herself laying on her stomach in the grass. Before she opened her eyes, she noticed she felt incredibly sick. Her head pounded as if she had a massive hangover. Her whole body hurt as if she had been hit by a train. When she opened her eyes, she was shocked to find herself somewhere else than the cave.

"What… What happened… Where am I?"

When she looked around her, she saw the familiar jungle, but she did not recognize anything. Where was everyone?

As she stood up, she had to lean against a tree to not fall over immediately. She licked her cracked lips as she tried to remember what had happened, anything at all. She noticed how thirsty and hungry and above all nauseous she was. She needed water first. Then she would figure out what happened and where the other's were.

She tried to collect some rainwater with a large leave she plucked. But as soon as she had drunk some water, she threw it right up again.

"Alright, slowly…" She sat down as she tried to hydrate herself again, ignoring the nausea. After she had drunk a bit, she felt her stomach ask for food, but she ignored it.

"Chloe?" she asked to the trees around her. Her voice was hoarse. "Aubrey? Stacie?"

* * *

"She's getting away!" someone yelled behind her. This only motivated Aubrey to run faster, even with her hands still tied behind her back. She heard cries of the men running after her. She was not fast enough. While trying to keep her balance, she looked around her to look for a place to hide. Her mind was blank and disabled her reasonable thinking. But at the same time, thoughts were racing through her head, panic flamed through her body, leaving her out of breath. They had taken her shoes and jacket. Her bloody feet stumbled over some rocks on her path she had not seen and her body was thrown on the ground. She cried out in pain, but tried to muffle her scream in her shoulder. She could not risk revealing her location.

As fast as she could, she tried to get up, but that was significantly more difficult without using her hands. She pushed herself to her knees by pressing her shoulder into the ground. The muscles in her legs were protesting when she tried to get up. Her first steps were slow and uncoordinated, but she picked her speed up again. She could hear the footsteps of the men following her behind her.

"I see her!" someone yelled "she's over here!"

She heard more feet approaching her. If she did not think of something now, she would get captured again. A few feet before her, the forest seemed lighter. She stumbled to the open spot, which appeared to be made out of rock. The rock where she marked her bloody footprints on was on the side of a waterfall, which was on her left. Below the rock, about 30 feet below her, there was a roaring river where the waterfall mounded to. This was a dead end. But this was not the end for Aubrey Posen. She would not go back there. Everything was better than that.

"You have nowhere to go." Bumper said as he formed a circle with the others around her. Her back faced the edge of the cliff.

"We know you can't swim." Jesse said. "Come back to us. If you jump you'll drown."

"If you not fall to your death first." Greg added.

Aubrey tried to swallow her tears and her fear as she took a step back, the back of her bare foot dangling over the edge. She tried to fight against the restraints that kept her hands together behind her back.

"Don't be stupid." Joseph tried. He wanted her to escape, but not like this.

But when Bumper took a step closer, Aubrey turned around and jumped. She only realized what she had done when she felt her feet leave the stone surface and she was falling towards the roaring water below her.

She heard people scream above her when she crashed into the blow crushed her body and threw every part of her body in its direction, causing the air she had collected in her lungs to be blown out. The water violently tried to tear the intruder apart. Her body scraped against the bottom of the lake which was covered with stones, causing one particular sharp stone to cut her leg open, leaving a wide deep gash across her calve. Aubrey twisted and spun around trying to regain control of the situation which was difficult with her hand still tied behind her back.

A angelic flash of white illuminated the water. It was so bright for a few seconds, it was almost like the water was on fire. But soon after, the light faded and a consuming darkness replaced it. Aubrey could not see anything. The water was too dark to be able to determine her position. As she first had felt panicked when her body screamed for oxygen, she suddenly felt really calm. She looked around her and she saw the water turning darker and darker until it was pitch black. She felt the darkness coming closer. It was swimming towards her, each second narrowing the distance between them, until the darkness was standing right in front of her and looked her in the eye.

"..." she tried to speak, but only a few small bubbles left her mouth.

The darkness engulfed her, taking over her body as they merged. In the corners of her eyes, Aubrey saw her legs becoming darker until they were swallowed by her surroundings. This is what darkness felt like. This is what _dying_ feels like.

But then, she could hear a heartbeat. A heartbeat she recognized. She knew this beat so well, it could as well been her own.

_Thud-thud._

Stacie?

_Thud-thud._

Stacie, where are you?

_Thud-thud..._

The sound became softer. She frantically looked for the source. But no one was there.

_Thud-thud…_ was the last beat she heard, before all the sounds faded. She suddenly heard Stacie's voice:

"_I won't go home without you."_

The heartbeat had stopped.

She was in the darkness.

So darkness she became.


	37. Chapter 37: A Sound of Thunder

Chapter 37: _A Sound of Thunder_

_Tick_

_Tock_

"_I won't leave without you…"_

_Tick_

"_Hahahah…"_

"_...ever be… alone…"_

_Tock_

"_Make me…"_

"_...I miss them so much…"_

_Tick_

"_...It's your fault she…!"_

_Tock_

"_What happens when you die?"_

_Tick_

"_We're... family…"_

_Tock_

"_What happens when you die, Aubrey?"_

* * *

"_Please go out with me?" Chloe pouted._

"_No, Chlo, we talked about this." Aubrey sighed._

"_Do I ever ask you for anything?"_

"_Look, your parents will never find out about this. We don't even have to be sneaky, we're living together."_

_Chloe pouted and Aubrey felt her stomach drop._

"_If ANYONE finds out that we went to the gay bar, my parents will kill me."_

"_They will never find out!" Chloe whined, "Pretty please?"_

_Aubrey looked at Chloe's puppy eyes and she knew that she could never say no to her. Even though she still felt her father's hand burn on her cheek from earlier that week, she agreed eventually. Her friend was overjoyed and ranted about preparation and how much fun it would be. She just hoped she was right and prayed to God that no one would find out._

* * *

_That night, Aubrey's hands were sweaty as she showed the guard her ID. The guard rubbed his eyes as he cast a quick look at the card between his fingers before he returned it and nodded. Chloe grinned and grabbed her hand tightly as they walked through the doors. Loud music blasted reached their ears, which Aubrey instantly recognized as Madonna._

"_Drinks on me!" Chloe yelled over the music. Before Aubrey could protest, her friend was gone. She sighed and put off her coat and hung it on the pegs next to the entrance._

"_You look like you're lost." she suddenly heard._

"_I guess I am." she stammered to the brunette that was leaning against the wall next to her._

"_Don't worry, me and my friends will get you through. Are you alone?"_

"_No, Chloe went to get some drinks."_

"_Oh, that's too bad." she said disappointedly. Her eyes wandered over Aubrey's body. "Well, how long have you gals been dating?"_

"_No, I'm not gay, I'm here for her." Aubrey said offended._

"_Right." the girl winked._

_Aubrey was about to say something snappy she would later regret when Chloe came up from behind her and handed her two shots._

"_Hi!" Chloe said, happily as ever. "I'm Chloe, what's your name?"_

* * *

_Aubrey's mind was fuzzy when she felt herself being dragged out of the car. She couldn't stand up, so her body was pulled by her father across the concrete of their driveway. The rough tiles scraped across her arm, leaving several cuts on her skin. She wondered how long this was going to take when she was thrown into a chair._

_Her father was yelling at her, but his words did not reach her. She still hadn't figured out how her parents knew where she was, but they had entered the club and dragged her outside and into their car. She closed her eyes to stop the world from spinning. Her father's hand hit her across her cheek. She heard her mother sob in the background of the yelling of her father she did not comprehend. He forced her to speak, but no words left her mouth. She opened her eyes slowly when she did not feel his hand anymore and saw that her mother was standing between her and her father. They were both shouting at each other as they pointed at her like they were taking turns. But her mother defending her only seemed to anger him more and he pushed her out of the way as he took off his belt, something which he rarely did. But going to that place, she must have pushed too far, she thought. This was her fault._

_Aubrey did not dare to open her eyes as she felt pain everywhere. She did not hear the wheezing sound her father made when he struck her, nor the sound of leather on her skin. She heard her mother cry. Resisting would only result in something worse. Her father grabbed her by her hair and threw her into the closet in the guest room. She did not hear the door locking. She tumbled onto to the wooden floor of the closet. Her hands cupped her ears to block out the sounds she did hear inside her head. The silence that followed swallowed her whole, as the darkness took over her body, and her consciousness._

* * *

After hours and hours of searching in two groups, Stacie and Chloe almost gave up. It was late in the afternoon and the air was warm and humid, making it hard to breathe. They had split up into two groups, searching for the lost girls. Naturally, Stacie and Chloe joined each other looking for their loved ones. The jungle was unusually quiet today because the air around them told them a storm was coming. The girls didn't speak a word. Their bodies were tense and their senses were enhanced. Like animals, they knew something was about to happen. Stacie shifted the gun from behind her back to her stomach, as she wasn't used to the feeling yet. Chloe's eyes widened as she saw.

"Stacie…" she stammered. "What is that?"

* * *

"Did you let her go without the gun?!" Chloe snapped.

"Chloe, please…"

"Don't say my name right now. Did you let her go without the gun?" she spoke very clearly.

"Yes." Stacie answered breathlessly.  
"How could you do that.." Chloe's voice broke. "You knew they were still out there.."

"She refused to stay and do nothing about your disappearance-"

"Could you have stopped her?"

"I wanted you safe."

"Then why didn't you go with her?!" Chloe cried.

"I don't know!"

"Tell me!"

"I didn't know this would happen!" Stacie yelled.

"You let everyone that I love die! She left me! She left me alone! You send her away! How could you do that?!"

"I did not send her away! This was her decision"

"If you had stayed with her-…!"

"Everyone I cared for has either died or is missing!" Stacie yelled back. "...Everyone… except for you!"

Chloe tried to contain her rage, but she was afraid she couldn't.

"You have no idea what loss is." Stacie whispered angrily.

Suddenly, they heard a cough in the distance. They hurried towards the sounds and found their friend lying next to a small river. Aubrey had regained consciousness and coughed the water that was trapped in her airways. Both girls fell to her knees and tried to help her. But the words they had said to each other still echoed inside their heads.

"Aubrey… can you hear me?" Chloe said.

When she woke up, Aubrey panicked and tried to stand up, only to increase the blood streaming from the 10-inch gash on her calf and a small, but deep one in her stomach.

"Stay down… You're injured."

Aubrey still didn't respond. She only looked at them for a few seconds, before she realized she wasn't in danger anymore. And when she did, her eyes started to water and she cried convulsively.

"Please, sweetie, tell us what happened to you." Stacie said as she stroked a strand of hair out of her her face. Chloe had taken her belt and wrapped it tightly around Aubrey's calf, just under the knee to try and stop the bleeding. The gash was open and wide and bled heavily.

Aubrey didn't answer. When Stacie tried to look into her eyes, she avoided her gaze.

"Please… talk to us." She tried again.

Aubrey shook her head and looked to her calf.

"She needs help, she's losing a lot of blood." Chloe sighed.

"Well, I don't happen to have a first aid kit lying around." Stacie snapped.

Aubrey looked at Chloe and then at Stacie. They noticed that her gaze was somehow… different. The light in her eyes had died and had been replaced by a terror they had never seen before.

"We need to get her to a safe place. Do you remember the direction to the beach?" Chloe tried again.

"I do. Let's get her up."

With some help, Aubrey ended up on her feet, but she tumbled to the ground as she tried to walk, even with both their support.

"I'll carry her." Stacie said as she picked her up in her arms. She noticed how incredibly light the girl was. She had noticed before when they were swimming. They all had lost a lot of weight when they were here, to the point that their collarbones and the lower part of their ribs were showing. As they walked, they left a trail of blood that was dripping down Aubrey's legs. She started to lose consciousness again.

"No no no… stay with me. You cannot leave me now." Stacie said. Aubrey opened her eyes, but her eyelids were heavy.

"We have to hurry."

* * *

When they had arrived on the beach, they laid her down carefully.

"Alright, you need to stay here, I'm going to look for Beca." Chloe said.

"No, we just talked about this!"

"That's why you're giving me the gun this time. You need to stay with Aubrey, the other girls can come back any second."

"No, Chloe, I'm coming with you-" Stacie said angrily.

"She's dying! Can't you see?!" Chloe said, looking her in the eye. Aubrey flinched as she heard her scream. "You've done enough."

"This is not my fault." she pointed to the girl on the beach.

"Isn't it?" Chloe asked angrily.

Stacie's answer was stuck inside her throat.

"Give me the gun." Chloe demanded.

Her whole body was trembling as she took the gun from between her jeans and hip and handed it to her. She had never seen Chloe like this. She was outraged. Her eyes were dark and she looked angry.

But when she turned around, holding the gun in both hands, she hesitated as she looked to the dark jungle.

"What are you waiting for?!" Stacie said. "Go!"

And with that mark, Chloe disappeared into the jungle.

* * *

After a waiting a while, the other girls had still not returned to the beach. Stacie sighed and thought of ways to keep Aubrey awake.

"Aubrey, you need to stay awake."

The blonde girl on the sand didn't answer.

"Here, you can't be comfortable like that." she said as she moved Aubrey's head to her lap.

A silence followed, which Stacie did not expect was helpful for her to stay awake.

"I'm going to tell you something, and you need to listen to me really carefully, so you'll stay awake, okay?"

Aubrey nodded.

"I've never told you about my home. But I guess I never told anyone, really." she said.

"No one knows that I grew up in France, in Marseille to be exact. We owned a small house near the sea. I, my brother Lucas and my parents moved to the States when I was 12 for my father's job, but…" she hesitated shortly.

"But three years after we moved, my parents died in a car crash… It was storming and an oncoming truck lost control of the vehicle. Lucas was only 12 when it happened." her voice cracked.

"Having no family left, we both were adopted by this American family. My adoptive family is fantastic, but I still miss my parents every day. My adoptive mother, Jenny is serious, but kind. David, my adoptive father, is the funny one and keeps saying that he looks like Morgan Freeman. But besides the age, they're nothing alike." Stacie chuckled. "He does speak a little french."

"And I know you won't speak to me, or Chloe. I don't know what happened last night when you were gone, but everything's going to be okay."

"_Some twenty years from now _

_I'm sure that we'll both be somewhere,  
working our butts of to pay off the mortgage_." Stacie sang as she ran out of things to say.

"_But isn't that all that we've always been wishing for?_"

The jungle rustled in response. The sea became more restless every second. Dark clouds had gathered above their heads, and the first drops of rain were falling down.  
"_Some twenty years from now,  
all that we'll talk about is breastfeeding and car payments and apple pie recipes.  
_"_But God, we'll be happy having drowned inconvenience."_

The sea smashed its water against the rocks in the distance. Stacie grabbed her hand as she felt Aubrey tense up. The nature around them was screaming, warning them about the danger that was coming.  
"And yet, I've lost so many people in my life, over and over again." Stacie whispered.

"I lost my parents, I lost Cynthia, I lost Jessica and Denise, I lost Lily… But I was most scared of losing you."

_Will you sometimes think of me?  
The girl who never lied about her love for you.  
Won't you forget._

* * *

"Beca?" Chloe said softly as if she were to say it too loud, the girl in front of her would disappear again.

Beca just looked at her friend and she looked like this was the first time she'd ever seen her. Chloe's heart was racing and her whole body was trembling from adrenaline, as the other girl stood completely still. Large drops of rain smashed against their bodies as the thunder fulminated above them. Darkness had spread between the trees like a fog. They stood there, in the woods, looking at each other as if they were enemies. Enemies after an undecided battle between their armies.

Beca looked vulnerable, her hands rested against her stomach as she rubbed the wounds on her hands. Chloe looked defeated, as she unconsciously traced the purple bruises on her neck. They both had suffered loss. They both were grieving. This war they were fighting had no winners.

_Some twenty years from now _

_what happened today will be no more than a tiny little bump _

_in the endlessly smooth surface of the highway of our existence._

This had to end.

"Beca… I…" Chloe stammered. "I've played this moment over and over again in my head and thought of every scenario and everything I could say, but seeing you now is just-"

Chloe was cut off by Beca laying her hands on her glowing cheeks.

"Shut up and kiss me." Beca said breathlessly and she kissed her softly first but pulled her closer when she felt Chloe respond. Chloe cried as she kissed her, breathing her in and touching her shoulders and her back, all the things she loved so much about her. She smelled the scent of Beca's skin, which belonged to her and only her. Her hand was entangled in her brown hair, which was not soft as she hadn't washed it in weeks, but she still adored its texture. She loved the way that Beca was standing on her toes to kiss her. In fact, she was in love with all the things about her and holding her after she thought she had lost her over and over again, was too much for her.

_Some twenty years from now _

_all that I'll be asking myself is what the hell, I was thinking _

_When I decided to fall head over heels for you._

Chloe felt like she was dreaming. She was inside this terrible nightmare, where Beca was the one that tried to drag her out. She could not wake up. What had happened to them would haunt her, even if she could wake up, after all this time.

The place around her suddenly did not feel real anymore. Chloe pulled away and looked into Beca's eyes. The darkness she saw there, was caused by the things that happened here. This dream state she was in, Beca had come to her to wake her up. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to wake up. Beca pulled her into a firm hug. In her thoughts, she saw her mother sitting right behind Beca on the cold ground. The red-haired mother, that looked so much like her, replaced the dead flowers for new ones in front of the stone she was kneeling for. Her mother had kissed the stone, before she stood up and left the scene, leaving the stone for Chloe to see.

_In loving memory_

_Chloe Anne Beale_

_March 9th, 1995 - October 15th, 2016_

A loud crack was heard and a white flash zipped through the sky. When she opened her eyes, her mother and the stone were gone. When she looked at Beca, she saw concern in her eyes.

"What's that sound?" Beca asked.

Chloe heard the sound to as she saw an orange glow cast over Beca's face. The color of the light combined with the typical scent scared the girls.

"Chloe, the jungle is on fire!" Beca said hysterically.

"What? How?!"

But there was no time for answers, as they now clearly saw the flames approaching them.

"Chloe run!"

But Chloe froze in terror and she watched the flames near them. If Beca hadn't grabbed her hand and pulled her with, she maybe had stayed on that same spot, watching the flames take over. But moments later, they were running, never letting go of each other's hands.

As they ran, they saw animals everywhere. Small animals, but also animals the size of themselves, all fled in the same direction. As they ran, the jungle screamed in agony as the fire burned her precious skin.

* * *

"Shit!" Donald cursed as he burned himself, trying to use the zippo to make a fire. He angrily tossed the object away as he sat down on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Joseph asked.

"It's nothing." Donald said annoyed. He laid down on some palm leaves he had gathered for the night. The Bella's had only made 3 wide beds, which were of course for the two leaders of the group Jesse and Bumper. Greg, the guy who followed Bumper around and copied everything he did, got the third bed. This is how things went the last couple months. Jesse and Bumper always had had a certain kind of hierarchy in the group and being here had not changed that. They had always claimed more food for themselves. They never had to do the stupid chores in the camp. But besides everything, life had been fairly good. No one had died. Donald had been sick for a while, but nothing life-threatening. It could have been so much worse, so no Treble was complaining about the situation they were in.

The other guys weren't there because they had gone swimming in the small lake in another part of the cave.

"I smell you got the fire on!" Kolio said as he walked to the camp next to the stream. He stared for a moment to the pile of wood that was, in fact, not burning at all.

"What's that smell then?" Greg asked.

"Smells like…" Jesse started and he looked outside through the opening in the stone that leads to the jungle.

"Fire!"

"What?" Bumper asked.

"There's a fire! We need to run!"

A few moments later, the Trebles left everything behind but their guns. Like animals, they fled the forest and left everything behind. When they ran past the last vegetation on the edge of the forest and reached the beach, they heard the loading sound of a gun.

"Don't even think about it."

* * *

Jesse sighed as he put his hands up. The scenery was lightened by the fire in the forest behind them. The fire was enormous and spread a heat that made everyone sweaty and nervous. One could hear the sound of trees falling down as they burned.

"Put down your guns." Chloe said as she pointed the gun to Bumper. Amy collected the guns they dropped on the sand.

"Got you now, dimwits." Amy said.

"I should shoot you right now." Chloe said. Her hands were trembling.

Everyone looked at Chloe, breathlessly.

"You don't want to do this." Joseph said. "I know what he did to you. And I know that he can never make that right."

"Shoot him." Stacie said. Her eyes were watering as they shot from Bumper to Aubrey lying in front of her. Chloe stepped towards him.

"How could you do this to me!" she shouted while crying. Jesse looked away, but Chloe grabbed his face and turned it towards her.

"Answer me!" she cried.

"Stop lying, they haven't done anything wrong!" Greg yelled back.

"I didn't mean to." Jesse suddenly said. Greg's and Kolio's eyes widened. Donald sighed and he looked to Joseph.

"What, you mean you accidentally raped her?!" Ashley said angrily.

"I was scared, okay?" His voice was trembling as he spoke the words. "It was the stress of everything we've been through, combined with what happened between me and Beca."

"Is this what it's all about?!" Beca said unbelievingly.

"My heart was broken!" Jesse said in defense and he turned back to Chloe "You had taken everything from me I ever wanted…"

"What the hell are you talking about." Bumper spat.

"And at that moment, I felt… so... powerful." He sighed as he looked Chloe in the eye for the first time that night. "Every night when I go to sleep, I relive that moment."

"But there's nothing that I'd like to take back more than what I did to you." he said as his voice broke and a tear rolled over his cheek.

"I don't expect you to forgive me… I don't expect that from anyone. I don't even deserve to live."

"She deserved everything she went through." Bumper said.

"No one deserves something like that." Greg said softly.

"She killed my brother!" Bumper shouted. "You killed John, just because he liked her!" he pointed to Aubrey.

"That's not true!" Chloe said bitterly.

"Hell, I don't even need to know why you did it." he continued. "You set the house on fire when you saw Aubrey and John going upstairs… I've seen you knocking over the candles on purpose!"

"I-I…"

"I don't know if you are just denying everything or if you honestly don't remember." he cried and the tears on his face reflected the still rising flames behind them. "But you killed my brother and you got away with it. I still miss him, every day. I was planning to get revenge on you by destroying the Bella's. That's why I drugged Aubrey before your final performance last year, so she would screw things up and the Bellas would be over. But that wasn't enough. I needed to hurt you. Permanently."

Chloe punched him on his cheek and she was pretty sure she felt something break underneath her knuckles. Bumper spat a bit of blood on the sand and he showed her his bloody teeth.

"You know what is funny? Me telling you why I hate you so much, but in fact, I don't owe you anything, not even an explanation."

She hit him again.

"In fact, what's even funnier, that you've become everything you fear about me. Look at me, sitting here, getting beaten up with a gun against my head so I'm not able to defend myself…"

Again. Blood from his mouth was smeared over her knuckles.

"You were at the same place as I am now, exactly 93 days ago…"

"Shut up! She's nothing like you!" Beca said as she grabbed one of Amy's guns and pressed it against his forehead.

Chloe's whole body was trembling, as the realization struck her. Amy was standing behind her and rubbed her shoulders to calm her down. Her vision blurred and her hands slowly moved to her hair as she grabbed two fists full. She pulled as she fell to her knees and cried.

"I've created a monster!" Bumper laughed, even with Beca's gun against her head. "You ARE me!"

"Shut your mouth! You don't get to talk to her like that!" Beca said angrily. "She will never be you. At least she has some dignity left."

Beca looked at Jesse as she talked. "Chloe still knows love… kindness… friendship. She is the smartest and best person I know and I love her."

Chloe breathed deeply as she heard her. The rushing of the sea, the burning of the forest and the beating of their hearts, which was almost inseparable of the noises that the island made, stopped for a very brief moment.

"Guys, look at that…" Joseph said as he pointed at the large beam of light coming from the sea, not too far away from them to see it came from a small boat. The beam illuminated Bumper and the gun pressed against his head. It cast shadows of the rain on their faces. Thunder raged above them in protest.

"Hey!" Amy yelled as she waved her arms. "We're here!"

Beca didn't look behind her to the boat. She only looked at Bumper, how his pupils dilated as the light was shining upon them.

"We're saved…" he said softly and for a moment, Beca saw a normal boy in front of her. But the blood on his lips betrayed what he had done.

"No... We are, but you're not…" Beca said softly to him. "May God have mercy on your soul."

Rain splashed against her face, she heard the sounds of the waves crashing behind her and the light of the fire in front of her reached her eyes as her finger tensed up and pulled the trigger of the gun. Bumper lifeless body fell to the ground. Blood splashed against her face, she heard the sounds of various screams behind her and the light coming from the headlights of the boat reached her eyes as her hand released the gun. The gun fell lifeless onto the ground.

She slowly turned around and she was blinded by the white light.

This was it.

This was the end.

The world had stopped turning.

~ End

* * *

_A/N: I want to thank everybody who read and supported my story. All I ask is if you want to leave a review, even if you don't have an account (yes, I'm looking at you!), I'd still appreciate it if you left an anonymous review!_

_I'm also making an additional chapter, where I explain various things in this story and point out some of the easter eggs I put in. It's like a SparkNote for my story. It will be up on Sunday next week. If you want your question to be answered, don't hesitate to ask in a review or through a PM. If you are reading this after I posted the SparkNote chapter, I will still answer your questions through PM._

_Last but not least, I want to give a huge shoutout to my best friend, biggest fan, and bèta-reader Johanna. I could not have done this without you. I love you so much. Thank you for everything._

_I haven't written all the things I have to say about this storyline yet, so (after a break) there will be a sequel to this story. It will be called __Yesterday__. I put a trailer of the story on my YouTube channel (April C Blue), so if you'd like to see a preview you can check it out there or on my Tumblr (AprilChloeBlue). Follow me (the author, not the story) on fanfiction to get a notification when the story is published._

_Thanks again for reading this story._

_~AprilChloeBlue_


	38. Chapter 38: SparkNotes

_A/N1: BEFORE READING: I've waited to post this final chapter until I uploaded the first chapter of Yesterday. You can find it by going to my page or by searching for it on this website! Also by the time you're reading this, I've uploaded another trailer of Yesterday. You can find it on my youtube channel "April C Blue" (why? because I can! :) )_

_A/N2:Hey guys! I know, the story is over (yay!), but I figured that some of you may have missed clues through the story and might be curious about why I chose to do several things. I thought it would be nice to give you a general analysis about the story from the writer's p.o.v. like some sort of SparkNotes article._

* * *

**About this story in general**

This story has 37 chapters and counts (this chapter excluded) 84.646 words, which is 7702 words longer than _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone_ (76,944 words).

This story has at this moment 344 reviews! This ranks this story on no. 30 of most reviewed Pitch Perfect fanfictions _(!)_.

This story has at the moment of writing 110 favorites and 217 follows.

This story caused me to be on the favorites lists of 33 users and to be on the author alert list of 49 members.

This story has a total of 72462 views!

The last chapter (37) got 230 individual views over January.

Most of those viewers are from US, followed by UK, Malaysia, Australia, Philippines and Canada.

This story started on 6th of April, 2015 and is now finished on 4th of March 2017, after 1 year and 334 days.

* * *

**Notes about the story**

**Chapter 1: Crying lightning**

"_Chapter 1: Crying lightning"_

The chapter is named after a song from Arctic Monkeys, but is pun intended for the lighting that strikes the plane in this chapter. Crying lightning is in this case a very upbeat but mysterious song and the guitar riffs which suited the chapter very good.

"_little Alice fel the hOle, bumped her head and bruised her soul"_

This is, as you might know, an Alice in Wonderland quote. The girls fell down the rabbit hole, just as Alice did and had crazy adventures in a place called Wonderland. Chloe's assault and Beca getting on those seeds, but also their behaviour sometimes are similar to the weird events in Wonderland. Also, I knew from the beginning that there would be a beautiful place they would be staying in with a waterfall and I called that place Wonderland in my head when I thought of the plot. This is also the first time I mention the motif "difference between heaven and hell". The place is, as we will find out, both heaven and hell.

"_Beca used to visit her mom, who had moved to the other side of the country after divorcing her dad."_

The thought of Beca having a divorced mom who lived on the other side of the country was maybe not the most clever decision, but it worked. I wanted the four main girls all to have a different family.

**Chapter 2: Praecipitium**

"_Chapter 2: Praecipitium_"

I have had 6 years of Latin language and culture courses and I had to translate some text from a philosopher, which contained the word praecipitium. I loved the word and it's meaning "jump or fall into an abyss" or, when used as a metaphor, "devastation". Jump into an abyss, literally, as they were falling into the deep ocean. But we can also see that the metaphor "devastation" is also a very good translation of this chapter title.

"_Oxygen masks fell from the ceiling, but nobody paid attention to them."_

During the crash I said that no people paid attention to the oxygen masks falling from the ceiling, but I think that would be a very stupid thing to do, noticing the fact that they were falling so fast. I honestly don't know if more people would have survived if they did.

"_Due to the blow, the plane had cracked in the middle of the cabin and a wide gap was now separating the front and the rear of the plane"_

Do you have any idea how hard it is to come up with a physical correct way the plane would eventually sink? I thought that the blow would probably break the plane in half or something and that the heaviest part would sink first. Since the front of the back half would have its wings attached, the tail part would sink first, as the plane sort of floats on the wings in the front. I'm not sure if it's correct.

"_The silence was deafening. Earsplitting. She couldn't bear it and started to swim faster and faster."_

Chloe swimming with Beca to the surface and being scared of the silence is a reference to the silence she will be afraid of the whole story. She's happy when she hears the rain again.

**Chapter 3: The State We're In**

"_Chapter 3: The State We're In"_

Chapter title is a song from the Chemical Brothers.

"_Beca folded her hands and laid them on Aubrey's chest, just above her sternum._"

I looked that up in my survival guide, but there might be some mistakes.

"_Beca settled herself on Aubrey's legs and pinned her arms next to her head…"_

Beca sitting on top of Aubrey to stop her from panicking is a very bad idea and would probably result in more panicking, but I thought it looked very cute.

"_My back hurts so much. I can't bare it any longer. It burns like hell."_

This would be the understatement of the year. 10 points to team Stacie.

"_Unzipping her charred vest and sliding it off Stacie's slender shoulders_"

The burn on Stacie's back was noticed after they removed her top in a early bèta. But fortunately, a thoughtful reader noticed that it would be very weird if her top was intact if the burning was so severe, so I changed that (I think?). In real life, Stacie probably wouldn't have survived her injury, but where's the fun in that?

"_... releasing about half a gallon of seawater on the burn._"

It was very weird to calculate the liters I wrote first to gallons. I wanted to apply the US scaling system but damn, yards, miles, gallons, cups… It's so hard… Damn you, US.

**Chapter 4: Your Hour**

"_Chapter 4: Your Hour"_

Chapter title is the translated title of a poem we discussed in class that time. The poem is about a man who walks down a street and the inhabitants of the town he walks through hold their breath as he walks there and reflect on life. Your hour is also in my language, or when translated in French a military expression of the moment of truth or the moment something important is about to happen. In English there is about the same word h-hour.

"_She looked into Chloe's eyes, but the redhead didn't seem to see her. She had a vacant look on her face, her eyes were focussed on a point far behind Beca (...) She screamed again at the top of her lungs, while she tugged at her locks as hard as she could."_

I didn't imagine any sound for this part of the chapter when I imagined it, despite the fact that Beca is actually talking. I imagined there was just a beep, just like you hear after a bomb goes off (or after one goes off in a movie). I didn't imagine hear anyone talk, I just saw them moving and saw Chloe breaking down and screaming, without actually hearing her. I couldn't write that, so I changed it to a monologue from Beca.

"_M-My name is Chloe Beale, I'm from Tampa, Florida (…)"_

When Chloe tells something about herself, she mentions she is from Tampa, Florida, the place Brittany Snow originally comes from.

**Chapter 5: Up In Flames**

"_Chapter 5: Up in Flames_"

The chapter title is named after the song from Coldplay. The same song is used in the chapter in between the lines.

"_At least, for everyone who is alive."_

This part is pretty vague, but he talks about the comment of Donald, who said that it could have been worse, as it cannot be worse for you if you're dead.

**Chapter 6: Diamonds are forever**

"_Chapter 6: Diamonds are forever_"

Chapter title is from a song from the Arctic Monkeys. Diamond symbolizes the memory of Cynthia.

"_And the heart is hard to translate (...)"_

This song is called _All this and Heaven too_ by Florence and the Machine and is my all time favorite song.

"_I love you, Stacie."_

Stacie and Cynthia were never in a relationship. Cynthia was in love with Stacie, but Stacie never returned her love. I got this idea while reading Corpse Party: Blood Covered, where Naomi and Seiko are in the same situation. This is further explained in chapter 21.

"_(...) nobody moved, except for the earth, that kept turning._"

Title reference.

I wrote this whole chapter during Spanish one day.

**Chapter 7: For Crying Out Loud**

"_Chapter 7: For Crying Out Loud_"

The chapter is named after the song from Meat Loaf. The title is also a reference to the reaction of the Bella's on what is about to happen.

The song used in this chapter is called _Broken Inside_ by Broken Iris.

"_I'm raised as a proper Christian and I know Cynthia Rose was a Christian (...)"_

This is the first mention of Aubrey being raised a Christian.

**Chapter 8: Disconnected**

The song sung by the Bella's is called _Goodbye Until Tomorrow_ and is from the musical The last five years with Anna Kendrick, which I saw around that time.

"_When I look back on the Bellas, I won't remember performing and competing. I'll remember you weirdos. (...) "Me too."_

Reference to the second Pitch Perfect movie where Beca says something similar.

"_Finally she can cut through these strings, and open my wings."_

Originally, the lyrics are HE can cut through these strings, but I changed that.

**Chapter 9: Fade Out**

"_Chapter 9: Fade Out"_

Chapter title is based on _Street Spirit_ by Radiohead.

It remains vague if Aubrey's dream was just her imagination or based on what she had actually seen during the crash.

The song cited in this chapter is _For Crying Out Loud_ by Meatloaf.

**Chapter 10: Cold Water**

"_Chapter 10: Cold Water"_

Chapter title is named after the song by Damien Rice. The same song is used in the chapter.

"_The color of the bag matched the color of the sea, (...). The handles and sides of the suitcase, however, were gray, which caused the two girls to notice the object."_

The suitcase described is actually my own suitcase.

**Chapter 11: Fingerprints**

"_On the side of the case, they noticed that a name was spelled with colorful stickers: Ellie._"

As this is my suitcase, I changed my name on the side of the suitcase to Ellie.

"_There were about 5 t-shirts in pretty colors. (...) but also colorful shorts in mint and ink blue. (...)"_

I actually own colorful shorts in mentioned colors.

"_It was a photograph. (...) On the front of the picture, stood two girls, who were about her age. Both they were wearing deep blue graduation gowns. (...) The picture was made in front of a large building, which Chloe assumed to be their school."_

This is a photograph from Ellie (me) and Johanna (my proof reader and best friend. At the time I wrote this, we hadn't graduated from high school yet. But when we did, we made sure we got this exact picture taken as described.

"_On the back of the picture, was a stamp displayed with the date and time of the picture. 26th of June, 2012."_

We didn't actually graduate in 2012, but I had to make it 2012 for the story's time frame. The date, however, is correct.

"_She had seen the blonde one, while boarding."_

My character died in the same plane crash the Bellas was in.

**Chapter 12: Comfort the Disturbed**

"_Chapter 12: Comfort the Disturbed"_

The first part of the album title from Aroth.

"_It was faint blue, checkered with black and pearl white buttons._"

Again, I got the exact piece of clothing.

"_She stopped at the third one, as it appeared to be missing._"

This again is also true.

"_The socks were size 9's (...)_"

Still true.

"_She put on the shoes as well, denim shoes, made of gray jeans material, with white shoelaces._"

Currently wearing them actually :)

"_The four Trebles now stood in front of a very small cabin a few feet inside the jungle."_

The island they are staying on was used by Japan in the second world war but was abandoned after.

**Chapter 13: Disturb the Comfortable**

"_Chapter 13: Disturb the Comfortable"_

The second part of the album title from Aroth.

"_WE STOPPED BEING A TEAM UNTIL LAST YEAR._"

The first mention of what happened to John and the fight that came after.

"_DON'T YOU FUCKING TELL ME WHAT INSANITY IS (...)_"

Based on the conversation Jason and Vaas had in Far Cry 3.

**Chapter 14: Howl**

"_Chapter 14: Howl"_

Chapter title is named after the song by Florence and the Machine.

The words spelled out during the spelling bee refer to the story.

The song cited in the story is Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses.

**Chapter 15: Below my Feet**

"_Chapter 15: Below my Feet"_

The chapter is named after the song by Mumford and Sons. Refers to Chloe hiding in the tree.

"_Thunder strikes before it starts raining, doesn't it?"_

The thunder struck the plane before they landed in hell.

**Chapter 16: Everlasting Night**

"_Chapter 16: Everlasting Night"_

The chapter is named after the song by Vocaloid.

**Chapter 17: A Mirror Has Two Faces**

"_Chapter 17: A Mirror Has Two Faces_"

One person can have two different personalities, just like a mirror has two sides: one is the real side, the other one is not real. This one is the person's dark and/or unpredictable side.

_**Consider the following list as the steps of preparing an animal sacrifice.**_

_**Cover the animal with flowers.**_

_A hug. Cuddling. Nothing more._

This step refers to the peaceful moment Chloe and Beca had before the crash.

_**Dip a torch in the water.**_

_Boom. Crash. End of story._

This step refers to the crash itself.

_**Hide the knife below the grain in the basket.**_

_Why did it happen?_

This step refers to the Trebles threatening them with a knife.

_**Burn hair of the animal.**_

_Crying, screaming, healing and hurting._

Refers to Chloe being raped.

_**When the animal nods in agreement, slice the throat of the animal and make sure it looks up to the heaven.**_

_This is exactly what happened._

This refers to the part where the Bella's build their home inside the cave (they agree with the situation). Their throat is being sliced is symbolic for all the bad things they went and will go through. They look up to heaven, though, because they are hoping life will get better.

_**Let the music play. When using pre-recorded music, make sure you've got a spare pair of batteries.**_

_Why does it have to be so difficult?_

Stacie and Aubrey dancing in the forest. One of the happy parts of the story. The last part of the sentence refers to that their happiness will end.

_**Let women scream repeatedly.**_

_Let them find me._

This refers to Lily's death and everyone being upset.

_**Collect the blood in a suitable basket. Stainless steel is recommended.**_

_Let them find me._

The Bella's are recovering from Lily's death.

_**Skin the animal.**_

_Let them find me already._

Aubey shooting down Beca when she is on drugs/possessed in chapter 35. "_Aubey's old skin popped of her new one and she spread it around her like a cat losing its fur. Or more accurate, like a snake losing its skin and showing off the new one._" This is a very important point in the story as it is a turning point. (see "Chapter 35")

_**Burn the thigh bones for the gods.**_

_Find me, shoot me through the head._

This refers to the fire that burns down the forest in the last chapter of the story.

_**Pour a little wine on the fire.**_

_Find me, shoot me in the stomach, let me bleed to death._

Make everything just a bit worse by shooting Bumper at the very end of the story.

_**Eat what is left.**_

_That's exactly why it happened._

This is a nod to the oncoming story "Yesterday", where the Bella's have to cope with (digest; eat) the consequences and remains of what happened.

"_On the next page, you see the instructions of sacrificing humans. Take a moment to study the images. Read the question carefully before answering."_

The question Chloe needed to handle was "How are you going to deal with what happened?"

"_Your answer must include three of the following words: (...)"_

Chloe had to answer the earlier noted question with three words, which described how she was going to deal with it. She chose _faith, denial_, and _insanity_.

"_Your answer may not include more than fifteen hundred words."_

A nod that (at that time) the average amount of one chapter is around 1500 words.

The song at the end of the chapter is called _Carmen_ sang by Lana del Ray.

"_When you completed the test, leave your sheet at your desk and leave the room in silence, so the other participants can complete the test."_

Everyone answers the question about coping in their own way.

"_Take all your belongings with you don't leave anything behind."_

One cannot influence the way someone copes with something.

**Chapter 18: Between Five and Six**

"_Chapter 18: Between Five and Six"_

This chapter takes place in between step 5 and 6 mentioned in the previous chapter.

"_When a voice interrupted my thoughts._"

I got this idea that Chloe might hear voices in her head in a reaction of what happened to her. (But not necessarily schizophrenic voices)

**Chapter 19: The Cave (Song for Someone)**

The song used in this chapter is called Song for Someone.

"_I can't swim"_

Actually, one of the main ideas before I started writing this story.

**Chapter 20: Little Flame**

**Chapter 21: I Hate It When You See Me Cry**

"_Chapter 21: I Hate It When You See Me Cry"_

Song by Halestorm.

"_Did you… and Cynthia…?"_

Here we finally get to know more about Cynthia and Stacie.

"_What's that?"_

The Bellas will find a stationary point used in the second world war with supplies.

**Chapter 21: Baku-san, come eat my dream**

"_Chapter 21: Baku-san, come eat my dream"_

Baku are Japanese supernatural beings that devour dreams and nightmares. According to legend, they were created by the spare pieces that were left over when the gods finished creating all other animals. Legend has it, that a person who wakes up from a bad dream can call out to baku. A child having a nightmare in Japan will wake up and repeat three times, "Baku-san, come eat my dream." Legends say that the baku will come into the child's room and devour the bad dream, allowing the child to go back to sleep peacefully. However, calling to the baku must be done sparingly, because if he remains hungry after eating one's nightmare, he may also devour their hopes and desires as well, leaving them to live an empty life. The baku can also be summoned for protection from bad dreams prior to falling asleep at night. To this day, it remains common for Japanese children to keep a baku talisman at their bedside.

In this case, not only Chloe is calling out to baku, but also Stacie and Aubrey, so he can eat the nightmare they are living in. But the baku also takes a bite in their hopes and desires, leaving them empty and broken.

"_The nightmares, like the one she had the first night on the island, had continued to haunt her, waking her up several times every night._"

Reference to what I said before about the chapter title.

"_Tapirs!" Chloe whispered as she grabbed Beca's arm."_

Of all animals they could encounter, I picked Tapirs because the Japanese word Baku might also refer to the Malayan tapir.

**Chapter 22: Friends**

"_Beca emptied her cup again and tossed it aside."_

Beca getting drunk on some party and hooking up with Stacie, actually, creates an image of a very vulnerable Beca. It also explains the relationship Stacie and Beca have with each other.

"_So let's decide to talk when we're home, okay? I don't have this figured out yet. But I don't want this to ruin our holiday, so please, let's just act like it didn't happen and talk about it when we're home."_

They never really talked this out, so they eventually will in the upcoming story.

**Chapter 22: Strangeness and Charm**

"_Chapter 22: Strangeness and Charm"_

Song by Florence and the Machine.

The song used in this chapter is called Moonshine, sung by Oscar and the Wolf.

"_I can't take care of her."_

Beca here refers to Chloe. She is now taking over the leadership of the Bellas, instead of by the failure during the semi-finals in the movie.

**Chapter 25: The Heart Won't Lie**

"_She threw her body forwards so she fell into the water and stuck her head below the surface, trying to drown out the voices. Laughter. There was laughter everywhere. Her lungs screamed for air but she only put her head deeper in the water, somewhat mumbling the sound in her head. The laughter still continued mocking her. Her lungs were burning. Her mouth was filled with water as her body gasped for air. She choked on it and tried to breathe but there was still water everywhere."_

Chloe had killed herself here if Stacie hadn't intervened.

"_This is insomnia, she thought. All night your thoughts are on the air. All night long are you thinking, am I asleep? Have I slept? Is this a dream? (...) "I thought you were dead." Beca had said one morning when she opened her eyes. "Yes," she had replied, "me too.""_

Based on the book _Fight club_.

**Chapter 26: Honesty**

"_I'm gonna kill the fucker, I swear to God-"_

First mention that Beca will kill Bumper. Beca's furious reaction scares Chloe so much she runs away.

**Chapter 27: Loud and Clear**

The mention of the senses in the beginning of the chapter references that the things she senses are loud and clear, like the chapter title.

"_How could you not have told us about what she was going through?!"_

The girls get into another big argument.

**Chapter 28: The Second Face**

"_Chapter 28: The Second Face"_

Chloe in this chapter shows her second face, the face on the other side of the mirror, her dark side. She tries to kill herself before she was stopped.

"_She looked like Chloe, but she knew for certain that the Chloe standing in front of her wasn't her."_

In her dream, Beca meets up with this dark side of Chloe. The person looked like Chloe, but she wasn't it. Her skin is darker, like grayer than Chloe's. Also she doesn't have a belly button, because this dark side is not born with Chloe, it is created through events.

"_Twelve (...)_"

Refers to the twelve steps this story consists of as mentioned earlier.

**Chapter 29: Drill Sergeant**

"_Chapter 29: Drill Sergeant"_

Song by Muse. Also, refers to Aubrey's dad.

**Chapter 30: And Bruised her soul**

"_Chapter 30: And Bruised Her Soul"_

"_little Alice fel the hOle, bumped her head and bruised her soul_" reference to this first sentence in the story.

About this chapter: this is one of my most favorite chapters in this story.

"_They knew that this island, the island where so many beautiful things had happened, had more horrors to reveal before they would leave"_

Refers to a difference between heaven and hell motif.

**Chapter 31: I Do**

"_If there was a heaven on earth, she was sure it must look like this"_

Refers to the difference between heaven and hell motif.

"_Her eyes fell on a 6 feet tall bush, covered with pretty chalice-like white flowers._"

She found a kind of nightshade.

"_There was an odd looking fruit, with a green shell, like a chestnut."_

Datura (nightshade) seeds. They contain a high dose of scopolamine, a very dangerous drug.

"_You're going to hurt her feelings when this thing blows up in your face."_

This promises good things for the upcoming story *wink wink*.

The song sang by the Bellas in this chapter is called You'll never be alone by Anastacia.

**Chapter 32: Crash, Crash, Burn**

"_Chapter 32: Crash, Crash, Burn"_

A line of the song Hurricane by 30 seconds to mars.

The hallucination in this chapter is really strange, but not implying anything but the parts I will explain later on.

"_She found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep well. Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly"_

This part of the story came literally from Alice in wonderland and is another reference to the story.

"_Somewhere on this forsaken plains, there's a gate. A gate to the place where you want to be."_

There's no hell without the hope that it might get better, in my opinion.

"_Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n_."

One of the devil's lines in _Paradise Lost_ by the 17th century English poet John Milton. The poem is about the temptation of Adam and Eve by Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

"_I hear her voice in the sounds around me, Aubrey. I see her face in the water when I drink." She cried. "I hear her scream everytime I close my eyes…"_

This is the turning point in Stacie's character. She will never be the same.

**Chapter 33: Never Let Me Go**

"_Chapter 33: Never Let Me Go"_

Song by Florence and the Machine.

"_I'll never let her go, Aubrey. I love her too much._"

Chapter title reference.

"_Her eye was pierced by a large piece of glass"_

Reference to Aubrey's dream, where she had also a shard in her eye.

"_Never let me go, Beca._"

Chapter title reference.

**Chapter 34: Dust To Dust**

"_Chapter 34: Dust To Dust"_

Song by The Civil Wars.

"_Beca looked next to her and saw her naked self standing on the same sand as her. But there was something different about this Beca standing in front. She somehow seemed… Darker than she remembered herself, like there was a black glow overshadowing her."_

Beca here meets with the darker side of herself, like she had met the Dark Chloe. This version of herself only exists in the Hell inside her head.

"_Holy shit, are you serious? I'm you dumbass. Or I'm the you that feeds on your misery._"

Because Beca had been so miserable, she is having this hallucination. Her misery is the only reason Dark Beca exists.

"_... and at that very moment, Beca felt their bodies melt together and form one."_

Dark Beca takes over Beca's body in the real world in her hallucination.

**Chapter 35: The Sight of Change is Darkness**

"_Chapter 35: The Sight of Change is Darkness"_

Refers to the turning point in the story. The Bella's are leaving the cave for good and everything will change.

"_She's alive…" she stammered as she stared at her head where there must have been a hole caused by a bullet._"

As Aubrey shot Dark Beca, the real Beca remains unhurt. The bullet is not to be found, because it's inside Dark Beca.

"'_Looking for heaven' was written in black, slightly crooked. 'Found the Devil in me' was written below in a different handwriting, that Aubrey found very familiar but didn't recognize it."_

From Shake it Out by Florence and the Machine. Top line is written by Chloe. Bottom line is written by Beca.

"_Beca looked at her (_Chloe) _as if she saw the devil. "Beca… Please…" the devil begged."_

Play of perspectives here.

**Chapter 36: Heartbeat**

"_Something happened to a Treble, John."_

John was Bumper's brother. I first thought this flashback to be a standalone story, but eventually included this in this one, because I didn't know where I was going with this if this part was standing on his own.

"_Her eyes fell on a pair of candles standing on the stand in the hallway, that spread their fiery glow across the walls."_

The candles are mentioned here from Chloe's point of view. We, however, don't know if she tipped them over (and if she did, if it was on purpose) as we jump back to Aubrey's point of view.

"_She's getting away!"_

Not very clear as we make a jump in time, but Joseph and Donald helped her escape.

"_This is what darkness felt like. This is what dying feels like._"

Reference to chapter 27, where the senses are described explicitly as well.

**Chapter 37: A Sound of Thunder**

"_Chapter 37: A Sound of Thunder"_

Chapter is called after my favorite film when I was younger. It's also a reference to the lightning that hits and lights the forest on fire. It's also referring to the first chapter "_Crying lightning"_.

This chapter starts off with hints of conversations held earlier this story.

"_Please… talk to us." she tried again._

Aubrey refuses to talk after what happened. This is called selective mutism.

The song mentioned in this chapter is called Stella XIV and is sung by Aafke Romeijn.

"_March 9th, 1995"_

The date (not the year obviously) is Brittany Snow's birthday.

"_October 15th, 2016_"

October 15th is my birthday.

"_Chloe, the jungle is on fire!"_

My initial thought was that someone lit the forest on purpose, but I couldn't make that work on paper.

"_That you've become everything you fear about me."_

This was actually the main idea of this story. The Bella's are now the ones that are threatening the other group.

"_The world had stopped turning"_

Reference to the story title, but the opposite.

* * *

Thanks again for reading and reviewing. Let me know what your favorite chapter/part was! I'm also open for PM's!

See you in Yesterday!

~April


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